Skin Deep
by Thomas Mc
Summary: David had twice before sensed a presence in the park whose spirit seemed to be overwhelmed by deep emotional pain. He couldn't help but feel the need to find and help this poor lost soul.
1. Despair

**Skin Deep**_  
By Thomas Mc_**  
**

* * *

**_Authors Note : _**_David had twice before sensed a presence in the park whose spirit seemed to be overwhelmed by deep emotional pain. He couldn't help but feel the need to find and help this poor lost soul._

* * *

**Chapter 1: Despair  
**

**December 2059**

David paused and gazed up at the few stars that shown through the leafless trees on this cold moonless mid-December night. Then he scanned the area in front of him, searching for the presence that had drawn him out of the tunnels. It was somewhere to the north and not too far from his current position.

Twice before David had sensed this particular presence haunting the park at night. The emotions were so strong that he had sensed them even down in the tunnels. David was by far the most sensitive empath in his family. It had been said that even Jacob was not as sensitive, empathically, as David. Unlike the others, David had inherited his empathic ability from both his father and his mother. Yet even he shouldn't have been able to sense the presence from that far away. The emotions were so strong they overpowered any sense of gender so that he couldn't even tell whether the presence was male or female.

Deep inside that unknown person, there was a terrible crushing darkness that was overwhelming. It was almost more than David could handle. Even when damping down his empathic sense, it was still devastating in its intensity. So much deep emotional _pain_ and _anguish_, mixed with a massive dose of _sorrow_, _loss,_ _fear, confusion_ and simple _hopelessness_. Overlaying it all was a sense of _fatigue_.

David had once heard his father use the phrase 'soul sick' when referring to a young man that had committed suicide several years ago. "Soul sick ..." It was as good a description of what he was sensing as any. Whoever this person was, he or she needed help desperately. But this person's _pain_ was so strong and ran so deep that David was seriously doubtful if it was even possible for his tunnel community to help this particular lost soul. Still he had to try.

David stealthily closed in on the presence. Even on this moonless night David kept his hood pulled way forward to hide his features. He knew how a stranger might react to his appearance and he did not want to complicate this situation anymore than it already was by frightening the stranger half to death. Like his father and brothers, David's leonine appearance, clawed hands and sharp fangs mixed with the bright red fur he had inherited from his mother could be startling at best. But when his golden eyes caught and reflected the light of the park's streetlamps they appeared to be on fire giving him a downright demonic look, especially in the dim light of a moonless night in New York's Central Park.

Finally David spotted the source of the terrible _emotional darkness_ that he had been sensing. He saw a hooded figure sitting on the park bench with its back to him. For a moment, his barriers slipped and his senses were overwhelmed leaving him reeling from the emotional impact. With great effort, David fought back the _despair_ that threatened to drown him until he determinedly forced his protective barriers back into place.

For the first time in his young life, David truly understood deep down in his soul how easy suicide would be for someone being crushed by this kind of emotional despair. Yet this person had been carrying this terrible weight around for at least a couple of weeks, since he first felt this presence, without giving in to suicide. To David that indicated a remarkable strength of character. But how much longer would that last?

With a deep breath, David quickly checked his gloves and his hood then he began working his way around the stranger's position. All the time he kept to the deeper shadows of the trees until, finally, he had worked his way around to a spot more or less directly in front of the stranger.

Even though he was now able to see the stranger from the front, it did not really give him much to work with. The stranger was wearing a heavy red overcoat with an unusually deep hood. The hood and sleeves were trimmed in a dirty white fur. If not for the ragged torn condition of the coat and the emotions he was sensing, he might have thought it was someone dressed up for Christmas. The stranger's face was still hidden in the shadows under that deep hood. Long blond hair swept down covering half of the shadowed face and hung down the front to about an inch below the collarbone. Female? Maybe, still uncertain.

He stepped out of the shadows and spoke trying to sound as casual and unthreatening as possible. "Oh, hello."

The stranger looked up and the _fear_ shot up so dramatically that David was momentarily afraid that his own hood had slipped but his peripheral vision quickly reassured him that it had not. He still was unable to positively identify gender. The common emotional responses to his voice that would have told him gender were not there, or they were buried under the crushing weight of the _fear_ and _despair_.

David took a cautious step forward. He noticed that the stranger was wearing a mismatched pair of gloves and the shoes looked like they were falling apart. Homeless, most likely, but he did not feel that he or she was crazy. "Are you OK?" A subtle movement of the strangers head in response to his words allowed a small amount of light from a nearby street lamp to penetrate the darkness under the hood. He caught a glimpse of sweetly delicate pixie like features that strongly indicated female, He guessed her age at between eighteen and twenty, but the one dark brown eye that was visible, reflected a deep ageless sorrow that belied that youthful face. The visual effect combined with the _hopeless sorrow_ he was sensing made his heart ache for her. "You seem to be so sad . . . so quiet." This time, he just barely detected a clear response to the effect of his voice. Definitely a female. But why was it immediately followed by an increase in the _hopelessness_?

The unknown female lowered her head and turned her face away from David so that all he could see was a bit of her tangled blond hair hanging down from the hood. Still she made no response.

He took a few steps toward her while studying her. "Won't you at least talk to me? Maybe tell me your name?" He asked her, using the most potent tool in his arsenal, his voice. Every Chandler-Wells had it. That deep silk over gravel voice that filled other males with respect and touched females all the way down to their very core. His mother once told him that it was a potent weapon in the war between the sexes that no woman could resist, and to always be careful how he used it.

She finally spoke. "Please, go away." Her voice had a very rough edge to it. It reminded him of Janice; one of the helpers whose voice had been ruined by a lifetime of chain smoking. But the glimpse he had gotten of her face had left him with a distinct impression of youth. Again he was struck by that indefinable dichotomy of apparent age.

"I can tell that you are in distress and I mean you no harm. I only wish to help you." He implored as he took a step closer. He could tell that his voice was getting through to her, he had felt the expected _attraction_ flash through her, but the _pain_ and _fear_ remained the same. The _despair,_ _sorrow_ and_ hopelessness_ however had just increased significantly. How in the world could his voice cause a reaction like that? "Tell me what has you so sad and maybe I can help."

"No one can help me." She responded quietly in her rough raspy voice. She glanced in his direction and again he caught another glimpse of a very pretty elfin face half covered by long tangled golden blonde hair. His mother called it the Veronica Lake look and often wore her long strawberry blonde hair that same way, mostly to entice his father. The girl quickly looked away again. "Don't look at me."

"Why?" He asked. "From what I can see, you are very pretty."

The girl's _depression_ and _anguish_ jumped way up as she called out with an anguished cry. "Go away!" The cry ended in a heart rending sob as she turned away.

The blast of raw emotion hit him so hard that his knees buckled and he sat down rather suddenly on the cold hard ground stunned by the emotional assault. After a second, he tightened his control over his empathic sense, boosting his protective barriers then shook his head to clear it.

The girl had noticed his actions and was again looking at him. Her emotions now included _surprise_ and _concern_. She had started to rise when David looked up at her and raised his hand to forestall her from coming too close. "I'm OK."

As she slowly sat back down on the park bench David again spoke. "I'm so sorry if I have upset and hurt you. It is not my intention to do so. I can feel that you are engulfed in so much pain, sorrow and despair. I know that I can help you, if you will let me." He was pushing the soothing power of his voice for all it was worth now.

"No one can help me." She declared as she again turned away from him with another heartbroken sob.

"I **can** help." He stood up from the ground in an impossibly fluid and graceful move. "I know a place, a refuge, where many wonderful people live. No matter what your problem, they can help you."

A burst of _rage_ flared up in her as she reached up toward her concealing hood. "How can they help me with **this**?" She spat out her question as she grabbed a hand full of her golden hair and whipped it away.

The golden wig came away, causing her hood to fall back and revealing very short medium brown hair that only covered the right side of her head. The left side of her face and scalp was covered with a mottled scaring. Her left eye was cloudy white and sightless. All mute testimony to having once been terribly burned. She threw the wig at him and began sobbing into her glove covered hands.

David caught the wig without thinking about it as he stared in surprise at the sight that had been revealed. The appearance of her terribly disfigured features made him wince in shock, sorrow and sympathy. He realized in a flash that it probably also explained the roughness of her voice. Now things were beginning to make sense. He had just seen the beauty that must have once been hers and the terrible ruin that had transformed her. But he was sure that there was much more to it than that. He had encountered badly scared people before and this girl's emotional pain went far deeper than the burn scars could account for by themselves and there was that element of confusion that didn't quite fit in.

David shook off his shock and swiftly moved up sitting on the bench next to her. He tentatively put his arm around her and pulled her, despite her slight resistance, into his embrace. "It will be alright, I promise you."

After a few moments of resistance, she turned and buried her face in his chest. Then she was clinging to his vest with desperate strength as she cried out her _anguish_ and _despair_ into that strong warm chest. He began projecting sympathy at her. He didn't know if any of it got through to her but he was also crooning words of comfort using the power of his voice as well. Soon he began to sense the effect that he was having on her.

As she cried herself out onto the front of his shirt, some of the _despair_ within her began to ease up just a little. Then buried deep under all that _pain_, _hopelessness_ and _sorrow_ he began to barely sense a _sweet gentleness_ that was still holding on and had not yet been crushed. He could also sense the strength of spirit that he had previously suspected was there. Just maybe, with a lot of help, this soul could still be salvaged. He felt that what he could sense buried there was well worth the effort to save her.

For a long time they sat there together on that lonely isolated park bench. He held her as she continued to cry out her despair into his shirt and vest while he continued to speak soothingly to her using his voice to its best advantage.

"Do you have a place to stay?" He asked her once she had been reduced to sniffles and soft sobs. Between the soft sobs, she barely shook her head without lifting it from his chest. He nodded to himself. "I'm going to take you someplace safe where you can stay for as long as you need or want."

Her only response was a very slight tightening of her grip on his vest. David suspected that she was beyond caring what happened to her and he was probably the only one to have shown her any true kindness for quite some time. He could also feel the results of the fatigue, he had sensed earlier, seeping through her.

Leaving his arm behind her back, he slipped his other arm under her knees. He stood up in one swift movement; her face remained buried in his chest. He shifted his arms slightly to get a more secure hold on her then glanced down at the blond wig where it had ended up laying on the bench. It was an old ratty tangled mop. It looked like something she must have found in the trash. He shrugged. He was sure he could find her something better later.

David took off heading across the dark park. He bypassed the tunnel access near the band shell because there was a group of teenagers hanging around near it. He headed instead for the access over on the north side of the lake. When he reached the tunnel entrance, the fatigue had caught up to her and she had retreated into an emotionally exhausted sleep.

~ o ~

By the time David reached the infirmary the pipes had already announced his approach and Cari was there waiting for him. As he set his burden on the examining table Cari leaned back in surprise. "My god, what happened to her?"

"I don't know for sure but I know that she's been haunting the park for about two weeks." He looked down into the stranger's ravaged face. "I was bringing her down here for refuge but I noticed that she was feeling very tired and now I think she may be running a fever and she seems to be having trouble breathing."

Doctor Cari Brown, daughter of Doctor Robin Alcott Brown, quickly pulled out her instruments. First she wrapped the medical analyzer around the unconscious girl's upper arm and, after ten seconds, read the display. "Her pulse and blood pressure are OK but her blood oxygen and blood sugar levels are a bit low and she is also definitely running a fever of a hundred and two." Cari took out a stethoscope and listened to the girl's chest. "Heart sounds good but I hear fluid in her lungs." She glanced over at David. "Did she have a raspy sounding voice?"

David nodded. "Yes, her voice was very rough sounding, kinda like Janice."

Cari put away her instruments then gave the girl an injection. During this entire time the girl had not awoken from her deep sleep and David was worried.

"What's the verdict Doctor?" David inquired.

Cari turned and faced David. "She has a mild case of pneumonia. It's a common problem for someone whose lungs have been damaged by smoke inhalation. I gave her a fairly strong antibiotic so she should start improving almost immediately. The air down here in the tunnels is very bad for her lungs in their current condition. You need to get her back above immediately."

"Where can I take her? I suspect that she has had more than her fill of hospitals and would probably not want to wake up in one." David shrugged.

Cari looked down at the girl for a moment. "Take her up to the brownstone for the time being. I'm sure Charles and Elizabeth won't mind. I'll send a message to Doctor Peterson. Either my sister Coni or Doctor Peterson can stop by and check on her condition tomorrow evening."

David picked up the unconscious girl and headed off toward the family brownstone. Within seconds after he left the infirmary, he heard messages from Doctor Cari racing along the pipes. David knew that by the time he reached the brownstone his grandparents would be expecting him.

As David approached the secret underground entrance to the family brownstone he spotted Charles, his salt and pepper mane a bit more tousled than normal. When Charles got a good look at David's burden his eyebrows climbed nearly into his hairline. Without a word, Charles led David up into the house and to one of the second story guest rooms.

Elizabeth was there waiting. "Oh, my lord, the poor child." She fussed over the girl making sure she was properly tucked into bed then shooed Charles and David into the common area and closed the bedroom door. Then she turned to David and asked him. "What is going on here? What happened to that poor girl?"

David told them everything that he knew. Elizabeth thought about what he had said for a few minutes before responding. "So you don't even know her name?"

"No grandmother I never even got that far, all I know is that she is in great emotional pain and she really needs our help." David replied. "That was all I cared about."

"We understand." Charles remarked as he squeezed his grandson's shoulder. Even among a family of empaths, his grandson was particularly sensitive. His quiet caring nature reminded Charles a lot of himself. "I know that she is unconscious yet I can still sense her pain all the way out here but I'm surprised you could sense her all the way from the tunnels."

"I can't explain it either, but I was able to sense her." He glanced back at the closed bedroom door. "I'll stay here and watch over her."

"I know you will dear." Elizabeth patted his cheek. "I would expect nothing less from one of my grandchildren. I'll set up the bedroom next to hers for you. I take it you didn't retrieve her wig." Elizabeth remarked. "Never mind, it probably wasn't worth keeping. I'll take care of that little detail; you just go take care of your new friend."

~ x x x x x ~

The clock on the wall showed that it was another two hours till sunrise. It had been just over two days since he had found her. David was just beginning to doze off in one of the two chairs in the guest bedroom when the young woman began tossing and turning restlessly in her bed. The last forty-eight hours had been punctuated with such fever dreams and as before he reacted instantly. He sprang from the chair and rushed over to her bedside. Like before, he took her hand in his and spoke to her in his most soothing voice but this time it didn't seem to be working.

David could sense _fear_ and _pain_ radiating from her like a heat lamp. Her sleep kept getting more and more restless. Finally he took her into his arms and tried to help her break free of whatever nightmare had her in its grip by gently shaking her while he called to her verbally and mentally.

~ o ~

She was trapped in a burning building with the flames that were licking at her clothing and hair, burning her skin and her eye. Her lungs stung from the thick hot smoke. Her ears were assaulted by the roar of the fire and the terrible screams of a child. At the edge of her vision a shadowy almost familiar figure morphed into a wild eyed demon as her own painful screams joined the general chaos around her. Suddenly she woke up screaming her nerves jangling with remembered pain. Someone was holding her close; rocking her in his embrace as his beautiful soothing his voice began comforting her. She began to respond to the warmth of his arms and his voice as her violent tremors and sobbing began to slowly ease-up. She felt his strong embrace begin to ease up as the nightmare began fading from her mind and she opened her eyes.

In the dim light from the low level nightlight the first thing she saw was a hand, covered in thick fur and ending in long sharp claws. She looked down, puzzled, at the clawed hand for several seconds. Her numbed and still sleep befuddled mind was simply unable to comprehend what it was that she was looking at.

Suddenly her mind snapped into focus and the image finally registered. With a violent jerk, she exploded away from whatever was attached to those claws, kicking out with her bare feet, knocking him backwards off the bed and causing his hood to fall back away from his head. Pieces of the fiery dream still swirling in her mind, she stared in horror at the thing that had been holding her. It stood there close enough to touch. Its lion-like visage and bright red mane, combined with the glowing reddish gold fire burning in his eyes, sent her nightmare befuddled imagination spinning out of control.

She found herself backed into the corner of the bed against the wall as she cried out in her despair. "You're a demon! I'm in hell!" With a whimper she curled in upon herself and shivered in fear as her nightmares of hell seemed to have materialized into an even more terrifying reality right before her eyes.

~ o ~

David looked at the pitiful sight of the badly scarred and frightened girl huddling in the far corner of the bed against the wall. She was nearly curled up into a fetal position, _fear_ and _despair_ radiating from her in waves. David responded with some heat. "I am **not** a demon!" After a moment he stepped back up to the edge of the bed and finished more softly. "At least I don't think I am." He sat down on the edge of the bed a couple of feet from her and his voice shifted into his most persuasive tones. "And you are **definitely** **not** in hell. You are currently in a guest bedroom in my grandparent's home." He cocked his head letting his sense of humor seep into his voice as she timidly raised her head, not quite looking directly at him. "What I **am** is the result of a madman's genetic experiment, three generations removed." He paused and shrugged. "Or at least that's what my family tells me and I have no reason to doubt them."

David could sense that he was getting through to her as her shivering lessened and she finally looked up at him in confusion. He slowly reached out and gently patted one of her tightly closed fists that clutched at the bed sheets as he continued. "You are **safe** here. No one here will harm you. You are welcome to stay here as long as you need to or go whenever you want to."

He stood up. "I'll leave you alone now. There is a bathroom two doors down to your left. If you need me for anything I will be either, in the guestroom next door, or downstairs. You are welcome to look around the house if you wish. There is a nice garden on the roof and Central park is directly across the street if you get the urge to go outside." He exited the room, closing the door behind him. Though he would never admit it to anyone, her initial outburst when she got her first look at him had definitely hurt.

_**Continued in Part 2**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	2. Refuge

**Skin Deep**_  
By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 2: ****Refuge**

After a few seconds to recover her composure, the young scarred girl rushed to the closed door and found, to her surprise, that it was not locked. Still in shock, she sat down on the bed and looked around at the room, that she now found herself in, for the first time. Even in the dim light, she could clearly recognize the simple elegance of the room and its furnishings. She wondered idly how long she had been out of it as she became aware of what she was wearing for the first time. She realized that she was in a very pretty, pale yellow, soft cotton nightgown. She looked around for her own clothes but they were nowhere in sight. She did spot a matching cotton robe draped over one of the two easy chairs in the room. Then her gaze shifted to the source of the room's low level light which turned out to be a Tiffany lamp on the night stand.

Her gaze was then drawn to the vanity on the other side of the nightstand. There were two tall hat stands next to the light and on them were displayed two high quality long haired wigs. One was golden blond similar to the one she had found in that trash bin, but it was a more natural shade. The other wig was the same medium brown as her own hair color. Both wigs appeared to be professionally styled so that, when put on, they would cover the burned side of her face in a soft swooping curve. There was a very nice comb and brush set on the vanity beside the wigs. As she ran her undamaged hand through the soft natural feeling hair, the name Veronica Lake popped into her mind. For a moment she wondered if that was her name but, after rolling it around in her mind, she decided that it just didn't feel right. Then her gaze turned to the bird tattoo on what was just about the only undamaged area of her left forearm. The term 'Little Sparrow' popped into her mind. There was something very familiar about that term that left her with a feeling of happiness lost. She pushed her musings aside and gently picked up the brown wig then faced the vanity mirror and cringed as she caught sight the ravaged left side of her face. She glanced over at the closed door then put the wig on and smoothed it into place. She looked into the mirror and saw again the beauty that she had once been. There was, however, no hiding the deep sadness that was echoed in her one good eye.

After about a minute she went over to what she took to be a closet door. She pulled it open and the first thing she saw was most of her clothes, all cleaned, repaired and neatly hung up. The only thing missing was her gloves and shoes. The closet also contained several other very nice outfits that, on closer inspection, all appeared to be her size. There were also three pairs of nice shoes that turned out to be her size on the closet floor. After examining the clothes hanging in the closet, she went over to the dresser that sat next to the closet. She started going through drawers and found a collection of very nice quality underwear in her size and several very fine pairs of stylish gloves. There were also four more nightgowns, a warm looking terrycloth robe and three nice warm-up suits, all just her size. Everywhere she looked it appeared as though this was her room filled with her stuff yet, except for the clothes she had originally been wearing, none of it was familiar.

As she was exploring the room new need came over her and, after throwing on the robe, she made her way out of the bedroom. She found herself in some kind of common room. At the far end was a beautiful wood and iron spiral staircase. There were several doors around the peripheral to the left. The one next to hers was closed. The creature / demon / whatever he was, had said that he would be in the room next door. She cautiously moved past that door. The next door was open and turned out to be the room she needed. Even the bathrooms exuded understated elegance.

After she was done, she wandered down the spiral stairs. She found herself in a large elegant parlor next to a dining room. On the far side of the parlor was what she felt sure had to be the front door and a large fireplace in the corner to the right. Her attention was drawn to a slowly blinking red light on a panel next to the front door. The place must be alarmed. It looked like leaving wouldn't be as easy as she had hoped. She approached the front door. There was a sticky note stuck to the door beside the doorknob with some writing on it.

_To temporarily disable the alarm, press the thumb of your undamaged hand to the plate below the red light. When the light turns green you can open the door. When you return do the same thing within 20 seconds after entering to prevent the alarm from going off. You will find a key to the front door in the top right drawer of your vanity._

She pressed her thumb to the plate and, after about a second, the light turned green. She opened the door and looked out on the dark night outside. There was no sound of alarm. Across the street was the park, just as that creature had said. In the sky above she could see the first faint hints of the coming dawn. After a few seconds it hit her that she really was free to leave, but she simply had nowhere else to go. She closed the door and the light in the alarm panel went back to blinking red. She leaned her forehead against the door for a few seconds as a single tear slid down her cheek. She looked down at the nightgown and robe she was wearing then made her way back upstairs to the guest room that she had originally awoken in.

Out of curiosity she opened the top right drawer of the vanity. Sure enough there was a small key ring with a single house key on it. To her surprise there was also a paperclip holding a small folded stack of bills and a note that said ~ '**_A little spending money in case you decide to go out_**'. ~ She closed the drawer deep in thought. Then she looked back up at her reflection in the vanity mirror. With a sad sigh she removed the brown wig and placed it back on its stand then she plopped down in the bed. After a few minutes of thought, she realized that she did not remember anything beyond about three weeks ago. She didn't even know her own name. The realization that she was all alone with no place of her own, that she knew of, and no memory beyond three weeks ago, hit her hard and she dropped her head into her hands and began to cry.

After a few minutes she heard a knocking at her door and a now familiar voice, that seemed to grab at something deep inside her, spoke. "I could feel your sorrow. Is there anything I can do for you?"

She looked up to see the creature standing in her open doorway, his eyes still glowing as if they were on fire. He turned his head slightly and the fire went out leaving only dark sympathetic eyes on that fierce leonine face. Another shift and the fire was back. She realized it was an illusion caused by the reflection of the vanity nightlight. The fact that she had been put up in a very ritzy place next to Central Park combined with the kindness she heard in that, quite frankly, extremely sexy voice, went a long way toward alleviating the fear she had felt when she first saw him.

Screwing up her courage from somewhere deep inside, she asked timidly. "What . . . who are you?"

"My name is David and . . . I am exactly what you see." He responded with a shrug. "Can you tell me who you are?"

She stared at him for a few moments before responding. "Aahhh, Sparrow." She replied. "I'm Sparrow."

David clearly felt the _uncertainty_, _fear_ and _sorrow_ surge up in her. "Is that what you call yourself?" He felt another surge of _uncertainty_ to his response.

She nodded with a half shrug thrown in. As she looked down she caught sight of her damaged hand and suddenly became acutely aware that she no longer had the wig on and he could see how ugly she was. "Don't look at me." She cried as she turned away with a surge of the overlying _despair_.

"Why not?" David responded matter-of-factly.

"Because I'm repulsive." She wailed.

"Look at me, Sparrow." David commanded as he took a step forward into the room. She reluctantly looked up at him. The edge in his voice was so hard to ignore. "I have the face of an animal and the eyes of a demon. You even called me such when you first saw me. **You** can at least go out into public any time you want, but if I were to ever show my face in public they would hunt me down like an animal and, if I was lucky, they would just kill me when they caught me."

She was startled by the sudden pain in his beautiful voice and his very unusual golden eyes. She blinked at the intensity of his gaze, and then his eyes softened as he approached the edge of her bed.

His voice became softer, warmer. "Yet none of my friends and family find me repulsive or frightening. Those that truly care about you will see beyond the outer features." He took her scarred hand in his. "Physical beauty is only skin deep, but there is a true inner beauty that radiates from deep within your very core. I can feel it there, hidden, buried under this terrible depression that you have allowed to engulf your soul. I am an empath, I know the beauty that, try though you may, you cannot hide from me." He cocked his head and peered hard at her face, she wanted to turn the ruined side away but his gaze held her and she could not. "There is also still much beauty in your face."

He walked over and picked up the blond wig then came over to her. She was almost too surprised to react when he carefully fitted the wig onto her head. He gently smoothed the hair into place causing her to feel chills pass up and down her spine. "Very pleasing to the eye; especially when you wear your hair in that Veronica Lake style. My father likes it when mother wears her hair that way and I can see why." He paused for a moment as he looked at her. "When you told me your name, I could sense that you felt confused. You weren't really certain about it. Is Sparrow really your name?"

She looked at him a moment. The kindness that she saw in his unusual eyes combined with that amazing voice seemed to draw her to him and made her want to trust him. After a moment of uncertainty she again glanced into those scary kind eyes in that magnificently frightening face and surrendered. "I, ah, I don't really know for sure but it sounds right to me. I can't remember anything before about three weeks ago." She hung her head a moment, thinking back. "The first thing I remember is standing in the middle of the street staring at a fire hydrant, and then I was surrounded by a bunch of cars all honking at me. I ran and ended up in that park. I was there over a week before I learned that it was Central Park."

David thought a moment. "The doctor said that the wound on the back of your head looked to be about three weeks old. That could explain the memory loss though I suspect there's more to it than that. I know that you have terrible nightmares that I think relate to your burn scars and I suspect that you don't want to remember." He took a deep breath. "Whatever the cause, it's your future we need to worry about now. The past can take care of itself." He stepped back. "I have to go, but there will be breakfast in the dining room in about an hour if you're interested." He turned and left the room.

She jumped up and stepped over to the door where she watched him disappear down the spiral stairway. After a few seconds she closed the bedroom door and went over to the closet where she spent a long time looking through the clothes she had found hanging there. She even tried some of them on. Her original assessment had been correct; everything in the closet was her size. She was also grateful to noticed that everything had long sleeves and high concealing necklines. Hoping that she wasn't presuming too much, she finally picked out an outfit that she particularly liked then she grabbed some underwear from the dresser. With her armload of clothing, she headed for the bathroom.

She had just passed David's door when the bedroom door on the other side of the bathroom opened and a very pretty woman with long strawberry blond hair stepped out, stopped and smiled. "Hello. I see you're feeling much better today."

"Um, yea, I guess I am." There was something about the woman that seemed vaguely familiar to her.

"I should introduce myself." The woman approached. "My name is Cherry. I think you have already met my son David."

Sparrow, as she had named herself, nearly dropped her load of clothes in her surprise. "That . . . was your son?" As she spoke she realized that she had already accepted that it was true. That was what had struck her as familiar. The woman's hair was the same color as that creature's / David's mane and she could also see some similarities in the shape of the eyes.

Cherry laughed. "I can understand your surprise. He does favor his father much more than me."

After a moment Sparrow responded. "It's just that I can also see a lot of you in him, especially the eyes." She shrugged.

Cherry looked back at her with surprised respect. "David was right. There is more to you than one would expect." She nodded as she glanced at the load of clothes. "I'll let you get on with what you were doing." Cherry touched her reassuringly on her shoulder and was shocked at the surge of strong emotions churning through the girl. Cherry dropped her hand and took a moment to compose herself before she could say more. "See you downstairs for breakfast." Then she turned and headed down the stairs. Cherry had always been able to sense the emotional state of anyone she touched but she had never encounter anything as dark or as intense as what she had just felt. As she descended the stairs she mulled over what she had just sensed and she also had gotten a sense of the sweetness and strength David had mentioned buried under all those darker emotions.

Sparrow stood there for several seconds staring at the spiral staircase. The pretty woman had certainly reacted oddly when she had touched her shoulder. Finally Sparrow shook herself and headed into the bathroom. On the counter beside the sink was a brand new toothbrush still in the package along with a few other toiletries with a small sticky note attached. She picked it up and read the note. ~ 'For our new guest.' ~ The thoughtfulness of it brought a tear to her eye.

She had intended to take a quick shower, but then she realized for the first time that she was already clean. She found herself blushing as she wondered who had cleaned her up and changed her clothes while she had been out. This in turn caused her to wonder just how long had she been out. Once she recovered her composure, she proceeded to wash her face and brush her teeth then she changed into the new clothes. She looked into the mirror and was surprised at how nice she looked in the new clothes and wig. A half hearted smile crept across her face. It was almost as though the damage had never happened. Then she caught sight of her terribly scarred left hand and the illusion was shattered. The smile vanished as the familiar black sorrow again rose up to engulf her.

After a few seconds she pulled herself together and, with a great act of will, pushed back the dark despair that threatened to overwhelm her. Despite her wretched condition these strangers had treated her very kindly. She at least had that to be grateful for. And David had been right when he had remarked that, unlike him, at least she could go out in public without fearing for her life. With one last quick glance at the mirror and a sigh, she left the bathroom and headed down the stairs.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs she heard hushed voices coming from the direction of the dining room. She came around the corner and saw the creature, David, talking to Cherry as they were arranging the dishes and silverware on the table. It looked like they were setting out places for seven people.

David looked up at her and nodded. "Hello Sparrow."

Cherry looked over and smiled. "Welcome, Sparrow. You're just in time to help us set the table."

Sparrow approached the table and at their encouragement helped to get the table set for breakfast. As they were working, David and Cherry tried to include Sparrow in their conversation but her responses tended to be short and non-committal. Mostly she remained quiet and just listened to them talk. She soon realized that she had probably been here for more than one night and finally she worked herself up to speak. "Um, how long have I been here?"

Cherry looked over at her. "David brought you here two days ago. You were very sick. The doctor said it was pneumonia. He said that your lungs were probably damaged by the same fire that caused your scarring. He told us that we would have to be very careful about the quality of the air that you are exposed to."

"Two days!" Sparrow looked at her in surprise. Then some half remembered images came to mind and she asked about it. "I'm not sure but I seem to remember tunnels and rock caves. Was I dreaming that?"

David responded. "We have a community located below the subway tunnels. That's where we spend most of our time. I took you to our doctor there but she said that the tunnel air was bad for your lungs so I brought you here to my grandparent's place."

Just as they finished getting all seven place settings done, Sparrow looked up at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. She was surprised to see another leonine creature like David come around the corner. The new lion-man had a golden blond mane and fur, and his eyes were the most incredible sapphire blue color. To her amazement he went straight over to Cherry, embraced her, kissed her and gave her a couple of pat's on her butt, all of which brought out a big grin on Cherry's face.

"Good morning love." Cherry said to him. "You're just in time." Cherry then turned her attention to Sparrow. "Sparrow, this is my husband and David's father, Peter Chandler-Wells." She looked up at the lion-man by her side. "Honey, this is your mom and dad's new house guest, Sparrow."

Sparrow was stunned when the new lion-man's name called up a hazy image of a beloved children's story book held in her own tiny slightly grubby hands with a drawing of a sparrow in the center of the cover and that very author's name across the bottom of the cover. She knew that name and she remembered a couple of his stories, including one about a lost sparrow trying to find its way home. She finally spoke. "You're the writer of children's books?"

He smiled and nodded. "That's me."

At that moment an elegant white haired woman came out from the kitchen area and began setting out breakfast on the dining room table. She smiled at Sparrow. "Hello, my name's Elizabeth. I just wanted to welcome you to my home."

"Ah, thank-you." Sparrow responded.

Elizabeth's eyes shifted slightly looking past Sparrow to the right. "Charles, you're just in time. Breakfast is served."

Sparrow turned around to see a regal gray haired lion-man approaching from the stairs. He went over to Elizabeth, put his arm around her waist and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Good morning gorgeous. I'm starved and that smells delicious."

The place was suddenly filled with the lovely sound of musical chimes and everyone looked towards the front door. Cherry sprinted over to the front door and, after a quick glance at the wall where Sparrow had noticed the presence of a large screen TV, opened the door. There was a very pretty blond woman that Cherry escorted back to the table. She then introduced the new arrival. "Sparrow, this is Peter's sister, Clarissa. Clarissa this is Sparrow, a friend of David's."

"OK everybody, grab a seat and dig in. Breakfast is served." Elizabeth announced as she sat down next to one end of the table. Charles took the seat at the same end of the table beside his wife.

Peter took the seat on the other side of the table, across from his mother and Cherry sat beside him. Clarissa sat next to Elizabeth and David took the seat beside Cherry. Sparrow hesitated a bit nervously.

David pointed to the seat next to himself. "Have a seat Sparrow. I know you're hungry and my grandmother is a very good cook." He smiled encouragingly at her. Another moment's hesitation then she sat down at the table. David passed her the scrambled eggs platter. "You have to try these."

Sparrow accepted the platter and dished some of the eggs onto her plate. Clarissa passed her the bacon. Soon her plate was loaded and she began to eat. The food was great. The main subjects of breakfast conversation turned out to be the latest book by Peter, the impending retirement of Elizabeth from the District Attorney Office and the latest bit of mischief that someone named Alexander had gotten into. There was also some mention of Clarissa's bid to run for Elizabeth's position once she retired. At present it looked like Clarissa had a good shot at being her mother's successor at the DA office.

Sparrow was very surprised to learn that Elizabeth was the current District Attorney and Clarissa was an Assistant District Attorney in her office. She also learned that Elizabeth's father had been the District Attorney before her and Charles' mother had been an Assistant District Attorney working for Elizabeth's father. It seemed to her that the New York District Attorney's office was turning into a family dynasty. She had been thinking over this aspect of her hosts when she was interrupted by a question from Clarissa that had something to do with identity. "Ah, I'm sorry, what did you say?" Sparrow asked her.

Clarissa repeated her query. "Sparrow if you want I can try to find out your real name. Learn what happened to you."

Sparrow looked at her for a second thinking about the possibilities before responding. "I . . . I don't really know for sure." She glanced down at her burn scarred left hand. "I'm not sure I want to know." She paused. "What if I don't like the person that I was? What if **you** don't like who I was?" She shrugged. "I just don't know for sure."

David responded. "No matter what hardships or horrors you may have endured in your life, I can assure you that you are a good person." He indicated the other two leonine males. "Remember that we are empathic. We know who you really are." He thumped his chest. "Here inside. You can't hide your true nature from us. We know that you are a good, kind person with a surprisingly strong spirit." He reached out and gently grabbed her scarred left hand. "And we know that you have the strength to face anything that you may encounter."

Elizabeth remarked. "We could at least find out your real name for you."

Sparrow shrugged. "I guess it would be nice to know my real name." She glanced over at David. "But I think I kinda like the name Sparrow. Somehow it just feels right when you call me by that name."

David smiled back at her. "Regardless of what they find out, you will always be Sparrow to me." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Sparrow . . . It really does suit you somehow."

The way he had said her assumed name sent an unfamiliar thrill through her giving her goose bumps. She looked up to see him smiling back at her.

Clarissa spoke up. "Monday morning I will start a discrete search for your identity."

_**Continued in Part 3**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	3. Winterfest

**Skin Deep**_  
By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 3: ****Winterfest**

As they were clearing the breakfast table the doorbell chimed and a few minutes later Elizabeth escorted a distinguished looking man into the parlor. Elizabeth brought the new visitor over and introduced him. "Sparrow, this is Doctor Harold Peterson. He is an old friend of the family and a very good doctor."

Doctor Peterson smiled at her. "I've been asked to check you over and make sure that the pneumonia has cleared up and that you remain healthy." He glanced at the others. "Also David wants me to determine if it would be safe for you to go below for Winterfest." He added as he nodded toward David. "Why don't we go up to your room so that I can examine you?" He gestured toward the spiral stairs. "Shall we?"

Once they reached her room the doctor directed her to sit on the vanity chair. "Now young lady if you will remove your shirt we will make sure that your pneumonia is all cleared up and see just how serious the damage to your lungs really is."

A bit reluctantly she removed her shirt expecting a look of revulsion and pity from the doctor when he saw the extent of the scarring on her body. He barely showed any reaction to the sight. His only reaction was a slight frown as he looked over the scarred area. Then he pulled out his stethoscope and placed it on the unscarred side of her back. "Now take a deep breath and hold it, please." He listened for a second. "Now breathe out." He listened then nodded and shifted the stethoscope to a new location and repeated the procedure.

While this continued, Sparrow glanced over at the black antique doctor's bag that he had been carrying. She could just make out the name 'Dr. Jacob Wells' in badly worn letters on the side of the bag. "Who is Doctor Jacob Wells?" She asked between breaths.

Doctor Peterson glanced at the ancient bag a moment. "He was a very good man that helped to found the tunnel community and raised David's great grandfather, Vincent. Vincent was the first of their kind. I never actually met him personally. That doctor's bag was given to me by Teresa the day I graduated from medical school . . . Now breathe in."

After listening to her breathing from a half dozen locations he handed her a small electronic device and had her breath in and out through it several times while he examined the display of an other device he held in his hand. He nodded to himself as he took the device from her. While she put her shirt back on Doctor Peterson checked the results on the hand held device and made a few notations before continuing his examination.

Doctor Peterson seemed to be deep in thought as he put away his instruments after what had been a very thorough examination of her. Sparrow was just a tiny bit concerned by his serious demeanor. "Well doctor, am I going to live?"

He touched the screen of his device a couple of times then answered. "Well, Sparrow, There is definite damage to your lungs but it is not as bad as I had feared. Your volume capacity is at about eighty nine percent and your oxygen absorption rate is at about seventy eight percent. With time and proper treatment we should be able to improve those numbers significantly." Doctor Peterson looked back at her with just a hint of a smile. "I suspect you will still be around for quite a long time yet young lady . . . providing you take proper care of yourself and stay away from damp moldy places."

Sparrow nodded as she absorbed what he had been telling her. "I guess that means that this Winterfest thing they mentioned is out of the question." She remarked, a bit unsure just how she felt about it.

Doctor Peterson's face became serious as he continued. "I know that David would like to take you to Winterfest next week because he asked me about it." He reached into his bag and pulled out a small object. "And I know how much I think you would enjoy it. I also believe that the time you might spend at Winterfest could do you a lot of good emotionally." He tilted his head as he looked her in the eye. "Now if you decide to attend Winterfest you will need this." He handed her the object that she recognized as an emergency asthma whiffer. "The medicine in this is very strong and that device only contains fifteen doses. You will need to take one dose at least ten minutes before heading down into the tunnels. After that you must use it at least once every hour and a half, or immediately if you feel the beginnings of an asthma like attack coming on."

She gazed at the object in her hand a moment then looked up at the doctor. "Um, thank-you Doctor."

Doctor Peterson held up his hand. "Like I said, that medicine is extremely strong and there are only fifteen doses. The side effects of continuous use can be very unpleasant so once that is gone you can not have any more for at least ten months. So use it sparingly, **but** don't hesitate to use it if you need it. Your lungs were damaged by heat and smoke inhalation and you can not afford any more bouts of pneumonia."

When they came down to the parlor Doctor Peterson smiled and nodded to David. "Sparrow is in relatively good health and I have given her the go ahead to attend Winterfest." He held up his hand. "As long as she follows certain precautions."

David responded. "That's wonderful." He smiled as he took Sparrow's hand. "You're going to **love** Winterfest."

~ x x x x x ~

Two days later Clarissa shook her head in frustration then glanced up. "I'm so sorry Sparrow. I've done a search of every database and I can find no records that match your fingerprints. It's possible that any records have been purged or sealed because of your age. Doctor Peterson said that the fire that scarred you probably happened when you were still a minor." She touched Sparrow's hand in sympathy. "Still no memory's from before?"

Sparrow shook her head. "Nothing. I've tried to think back but there is nothing there."

Clarissa cocked her head. "I won't give up though. Tomorrow I'm going to try to run a DNA search. Even if you are not in the records a DNA search will probably be able to identify your family."

Sparrow looked down at the desk top. "I just hope that all of you aren't disappointed in me when you find out who I really am."

Clarissa shook her head. "Honey, we already knows who you really are. The boys are empaths, remember? We're just trying to find out your name for you. The rest is just past history . . . an interesting story at best. We already know that you are not wanted by the law, because your fingerprints aren't in the system."

~ x x x x x ~

Sparrow was dressed in a lovely green high necked long dress that Elizabeth had given to her and matching green opera gloves. She had on the brown wig that matched her own natural hair color. David stayed close by her side as they made their way through the tunnels down to the Winterfest Hall. He seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes off of her during the trip. She became totally enthralled as they passed through the painted tunnels. Each image had a story to tell and she wanted to hear each one.

Finally they came to a long stone stairway that followed the wall of a vast windy chasm. Sparrow had to keep one hand on her wig to keep it from being blown away as she made her way down the long stairway along the abyss wall. The way the wind was whipping her hair around, it was not doing a very good job of hiding the scars on her face and she had a tendency to hug the wall, turning the scarred side away from those near her. David had stuck close to her side the whole time since they started heading below. His strong presence between her and the edge of the abyss made her feel safe despite her fear of heights that she had until now been unaware of.

As Jacob pushed the massive wooden doors open David held out his hand to Sparrow. "Will you let me lead you through the darkness?"

There was such gentle kindness in his golden yellow eyes that she couldn't refuse his invitation. Her dark vision in her one good eye was not very strong to begin with and she was unable to see anything in that very dark chamber so she had to rely on David to guide her through. He led her to a table and sat her in the chair that she could barely make out then took the chair next to her. While sitting nervously in that dark gloom she tried to adjust her wind blown hair back into place and discovered that the wig seemed to naturally fall back into place on its own. It was just one more indication of how expensive the two wigs they had given her must have been. She felt David give her arm a reassuring squeeze which helped to allay some of her nervousness at the darkness around her.

Then a light flared at the head of the table as Jacob's voice floated through the darkness and the ceremony began. Soon she was looking around in undisguised open mouthed wonder as the flame was passed from candle to candle and the slowly increasing illumination of the opening ceremony revealed the natural beauty of the Great Winterfest Hall. Then her attention was drawn back to David as he leaned over and lit her candle which for some reason sent a shiver up her spine. She became aware of a strong sense of fear spreading through her as she stared frozen at the lighted candle in her hand.

David leaned in and told her to pass it on to Clarissa who was sitting on the other side of her. This broke her paralysis and she shakily turned and passed the flame along. As soon as she had lit Clarissa's candle she hastily placed her candle in the holder before her with a sigh of relief. She looked over to see the understanding sympathy in David's eyes and turned away. Then she noticed for the first time that Doctor Peterson was seated on the other side of Clarissa.

Sparrow soon found herself deeply moved and felt a hint of tears in her eyes as the meaning of the words being recited combined with the growing brightness of the large cavern began to touch her soul. Finally at the end of the ceremony the two massive chandeliers were raised and Sparrow gasped in amazement as the flickering light of hundreds of candles caused the quartz and mica embedded in the cavern walls to glitter like millions of stars. Everywhere she looked there were hung some of the most beautiful and fascinating tapestries she was sure that anyone had ever seen, each with images of far off places woven into them. Ever since she had come 'below', as they called these tunnels, she had felt as though she were passing through a living fairy tale.

The feast that was brought out next was bountiful and mouth watering and her focus returned to the table before her as the tantalizing aroma of the food penetrated her attention. She glanced over at David who smiled reassuringly back at her then she dug in and was soon enjoying the best meal the she could ever imagine. With the exception of the occasional exchange of comments with David, she simply sat there enjoying her delicious meal while quietly listening, fascinated, to the ebb and flow of the interesting conversations around her as the subjects seemed to travel across the tables like waves.

Her reverie was interrupted by a gentle nudge from Clarissa and she glanced over at her curiously. Clarissa tilted her head toward Doctor Peterson. "The Doctor wanted me to remind you that it is time to take another dose of your medicine."

Sparrow pulled the whiffer out then glanced around a bit embarrassed. The young girl across the table from her nodded encouragingly. "Go ahead hon, most of us know that you need that in order to be able to attend Winterfest. No one is going to mind."

~ o ~

Soon the meal was done and David and the other men began clearing the food from the tables then they started moving the tables off to the side of the great chamber. A small group of people took up positions atop a makeshift stage that had been setup beneath the back stairway and began tuning up various instruments that they had brought with them. Around the peripheral of the cavern various activities were set up including an area near the main doors that had all types of games set out for those that were interested in them. A couple of street entertainers from 'above' set up in another area and began entertaining the younger children. Drinks and snacks were set up near the bottom of the back stairway with a couple of tables and benches set up next to the refreshments.

Left temporarily on her own Sparrow wandered around the peripheral of the chamber examining the fascinating tapestries that were hung there. A couple of times she stopped at the edge of a small knot of people listening to their conversation and soaking up the friendly warmth that seemed to permeate the chamber. With her Veronica Lake hair style covering her scars, she was a lovely picture of a petite pixy that drew the gaze of many of the men. Those that didn't know her would never have guessed at the ravaged condition of her left side.

Then music began to fill the cavern and the central area of the floor was cleared for dancing. Sparrow heard the music from the other side of the chamber and drifted over until she found herself standing at the edge of the clearing, that had become the dance floor, listening to the music.

David appeared at her side just as the improvised band launched into a softer mellower tune. He took her hand. "May I have this dance?" He started to draw her resisting out onto the dance floor.

"I don't know how to dance." She protested as she looked for an avenue of escape.

David smiled at her, his fangs barely peeking out. "It's really very easy." He responded. "We just hold on to each other and all you have to do is shuffle your feet and sway to the music." He grinned, his fangs now clearly displayed and his eyes sparkling engagingly. "Just follow my lead and let the rhythm of the music move you." He pulled her close and placed his other arm around her.

Sparrow felt a thrill go through her at the feel of David's arms around her waist. She looked up into his leonine face so close to hers that she could feel his breath tickling her ear. He smiled at her and she felt a warm glow spread through her. Then she was only aware that she was within his strong arms and moving to the soft romantic music. She felt her cheek tingle to his warm breath and closed her eyes reveling in the feelings that were drifting through her. David glanced down at her face as he felt her emotions and smiled. This was the first time he had felt her at peace since he had first met her.

To her disappointment the song finally came to an end. Then the band began a waltz and she turned to leave the dance floor but David still had hold of her hand and stopped her. "It's only a waltz." He told her. "It's a very easy dance to learn. I'll teach you." He pulled her in close and placed his other arm around her waist again. "Now watch my feet and copy my steps. Leave the rest up to me . . . on the count of three . . . one, two, three." And they were in motion. With his instruction, she was soon into the rhythm of the waltz and again enjoying the feeling of dancing in David's arms.

Sparrow continued dancing with David through several more numbers. Each time a new type of dance came up she would try to beg off but David would draw her back and patiently teach her the new steps. The only one she was not able to master was something called 'the Charleston' but her embarrassment was soon allayed by the laughter of all the others that were also having difficulty and she was soon also laughing along with the rest of the dancers.

After they finished the Charleston, David drew her over to a spot near the stairs where they were serving refreshments. They got drinks and a handful of snacks then made their way over to one of the tables arrayed around the outer edge of the great chamber and sat down. David sensed the happy glow that had settled over Sparrow and was pleased. In the short week she had been living in the brownstone he had developed a real affection for her.

After a short while a very pretty young girl came over and asked David to dance. He politely declined, saying that he had already promised the next dance to Sparrow.

Sparrow looked at David, puzzled as the disappointed girl walked away. "When did you promise me?"

David smiled. "I promised myself." Then he held out a small chocolate treat to her. "Try one of these. Clarissa makes them."

A few minutes later David escorted her back out onto the dance floor.

After several dances David sensed that Sparrow was getting a little tired and brought her over to the back stairs where she had earlier noticed several couples sitting. "These stairs are considered a sanctuary. No one can ask you to dance while you are sitting on the back stairs." He grinned at her. "It's a kind of Winterfest tradition."

While they rested on the stairway David told her a little about the origin and traditions surrounding Winterfest. He would also occasionally point out certain individuals and tell her little bits about that person. After they were rested they left the stairway to others seeking its refuge and made their way over to where a magician was entertaining the children with a few magic tricks.

A little while later they were again out on the dance floor. Slowly Sparrow became aware that David had consistently chosen her over several other very pretty girls that had offered to be his dance partner. As that epiphany invaded her mind she became aware of a tiny nugget of fear in the back of her mind which puzzled her. She wasn't afraid of David. She had gotten past that after that first day she had eaten breakfast with his family but still that little hint of fear would not go away.

David spoke to her quietly. "Are you OK, Sparrow?"

Sparrow looked up into his eyes. "I think so."

"Do you want to stop?" There was a hint of worry in his eyes.

At that point she realized that he was sensing her fear. She still had trouble getting used to the idea that he could sense her emotions. She felt the need to reassure him. "No, I'm fine. I don't want to stop." She smiled up at him. "I don't know where the fear is coming from but it's not because of you and I really like dancing with you."

He pulled her close and the warm feeling she felt in his arms reasserted itself, pushing the puzzling fear away.

~ o ~

It was getting late and Sparrow was beginning to run out of steam as she pulled out her whiffer and used it. David looked at her critically for a moment. "I think it's about time for you to head back above." He smiled at her giving a courtly bow. "May I escort you home my lady."

She blushed. "But I don't want to drag you away from your party." She protested.

"Not a problem, I would love to accompany you back home. You would never be able to find your way on your own, anyway." He grinned and held out his elbow to her. "Shall we?"

After a moment's hesitation, she took his arm and they started toward the stairway at the back of the chamber. She glanced at him curiously. "Where are we going?"

He smiled back. "This is the back way up and it is much shorter than the way we came down. It completely bypasses the painted tunnels and the Great Abyss.

Twenty minutes later they entered the brownstone and David walked her up the stairs right up to her bedroom door. He smiled at her. "Good night Sparrow." Then to her surprise he leaned in and kissed her sending shockwaves all the way down to her toes. They broke from the kiss and he again smiled at her. "See you tomorrow morning." Then he turned away and entered his bedroom next door to hers. Sparrow was walking in a daze as she entered her bedroom.

As she prepared for bed she removed her wig. Though she always avoided looking in the mirror whenever she was not wearing one of the two wigs they had given her, she still caught a glimpse of her reflection. "What could he possibly see in me?" She commented under her breath as her scarred hand came up and touched the scarred side of her face. "It must be sympathy. I'm fooling myself to think that he could really want this." She dropped her hand and turned toward her bed. "Still the attention is nice."

As she slowly drifted off to sleep her mind kept wandering back to the delicious feel of dancing with David's arms around her. Those were memories that she definitely wanted to hold on to.

~ x x x x x ~

It was the day after Winterfest and normally Elizabeth and Clarissa took this day off but there were a couple of cases that needed their immediate attention so they had both come in about mid-morning for a half a day. As she approached her desk Clarissa noticed a large overnight shipping envelope, that had not been there before, sitting prominently in the middle of her desk. The words '**Official Case File – To be opened by addressee only**' were prominently printed across the front and back of the envelope. Her curiosity peaked, she opened it and began to peruse the case file folder she found inside.

Tears soon filled Clarissa's eyes as she looked through the folder. The story inside was almost too much for her to take. Her job had exposed her to the worst side of human behavior, but she had never encountered a story this tragic or an example of barbaric behavior this evil.

The search she had ordered of the DNA databases had finally hit pay dirt with three hits on a seven year old case number so she had requested a copy of the case file be sent to her. Now she was sorry that she had ever started that damn search.

She looked up to compose herself, wiping her eyes with a tissue, and thought of that sweet sad girl they all knew as Sparrow then looked back down at the police reports contained in that folder as she mumbled under her breath. "Oh, Sparrow, you poor, poor, child. How did you ever manage to survive this?" She sighed deeply. "How can I possibly tell you about this without doing more harm than has already been done?" She shook her head sadly. "Do I even dare tell you your real name? What if learning your name triggers your memories? . . . Maybe losing your memory was the best thing that could have happened to you." She sighed shaking her head. "What should I do?" She looked over at Elizabeth's office.

Clarissa stood up and, handling the folder like it was an unstable explosive, headed for Elizabeth's office. She really needed her mother's advice on this matter.

_**Continued in Part 4**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	4. Decisions

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 4: ****Decisions**

Elizabeth opened the folder that Clarissa had brought her. It was from a seven year old Nebraska case. Written across the top in faded black block letters, was the name '**Michelle Farrow**'. Elizabeth's expression became grimmer and grimmer as, inside the folder, she found a tale of tragedy and evil that she found difficult to accept.

: : : : : : : : :

The folder contained files on several different cases. There was murder, attempted murder, arson, and two different child abuse cases.

Michelle Farrow's father had disowned her and thrown her out of the house when she had become pregnant at the age of fourteen. He had proclaimed it God's punishment for her sins and refused to help her. A fire in the homeless shelter eight months later had killed her two month old baby and left Michelle burned over sixty percent of her body. The doctors in the hospital's emergency burn unit had not expected her to live through the night but somehow she had held on and survived.

Three days later, in the hospital, her uncle had tried to kill her and been shot and killed by the police. The subsequent investigation into the fire and the hospital incident had shown the fire to be arson set by her uncle. It turned out that the uncle had been sexually abusing her and had been the father of her child. He had kept her from telling by threatening to kill her and her parents if she told anyone. After the baby had been born the uncle had become nervous and had set the fire to destroy all evidence of his crime. Her DNA, her baby's DNA and the uncle's DNA had all been evidence in the investigation.

The details of the crime and the graphic descriptions of what had happened to the girl and her baby were enough to make Elizabeth feel sick and left tear stains on the reports. And that had not been the end of the girl's torments as the next page attested to.

After it was all over the state came knocking at her father's door. He had still refused to take her back. He now was blaming her for his brother's actions, calling her a harlot and other far worse names. It turned out that he was the worst kind of religious fanatic and claimed that the state couldn't force him to take responsibility for her because it went against his religion. Even her own mother could not stand to be in her presence without falling apart.

In the end, the state had been forced to take her in. When the hospital finally released her after many months of intensive care the state had placed her in a Foster home. A note in the folder from a social worker stated that six months later Michelle had disappeared from the foster home they put her in.

That had triggered an investigation. The files on that case included interviews with several children and had led to the arrest of those running the foster home for physical and mental abuse of their charges. Michelle however remained missing and there was speculation that she had been the victim of foul play.

: : : : : : : : :

Elizabeth closed the folder, her face now as grim as death. There was no data covering the intervening six-and-a-half years. What had happened to that poor child during that time? What other ordeals had she endured? How had she ended up in New York? How had she survived all of those spirit destroying events that made up her lost youth?

Elizabeth opened the other folder that had been sitting on her desk for over a week marked 'Jane Doe # 29451'. It was the report from the Bronx division and dated about three weeks ago.

The subject had been found unconscious in an alley two blocks from Claremont Park, possibly a mugging victim. The emergency room doctor had treated the severe scalp wound on the back of her head and noted down the extent of her burn scaring. There had been no sign of rape but the report noted that she had delivered at least one child in the past. A CAT scan showed indications of possible brain damage. Sometime between the when the doctor left her, still unconscious in the hospital room, to make his report to the authorities, and the time the police detective had arrived to interview her, she had simply walked out of the hospital.

The extensive scarring along with the recent stitches on the back of her scalp confirmed that Sparrow was that same Jane Doe and Michelle Farrow. The head wound also explained her loss of memory. After a few minutes Elizabeth spoke. "We can and should tell Michelle her true name. As for the rest of this . . . I think we should let her decide if she wants to know."

~ o ~

Clarissa found Sparrow in the third floor library alcove reading 'Huckleberry Finn'. "Sparrow, honey, could you come down to the parlor for a minute? Mother and I need to talk to you."

Curious and just a little anxious because of the serious look on Clarissa's face, Sparrow followed Clarissa down the stairs. In the parlor Elizabeth was standing by the sofa group looking just as grim. David was also there looking a bit uncertain. Sparrow was really starting to get worried now.

Elizabeth spoke. "First I want to reassure you that you have done nothing wrong but we do have something serious to tell you." She gestured to the loveseat next to David. "Have a seat, dear." They all sat down. David put his arm reassuringly around her and Elizabeth continued. "First off we have finally found out who you are. Your real name is Michelle Farrow." She paused, a worried frown on her face. "Does that name spark anything for you?"

Sparrow rolled the name around in her mind. They said that it was her real name but she was drawing a blank. Finally she responded with a shrug. "The name means nothing to me." She shook her head. "It brings back no memories."

Elizabeth continued. "According to a medical report from three weeks ago, you were the victim of a mugging and there was some minor brain damage so it is possible that your memories will never come back." Elizabeth took a deep breath. "I meant it when I said that you had done nothing wrong but your background has turned out to be a particularly unpleasant one and we did not know whether you would want to know." She set the folder she had been holding on the coffee table. "In my opinion, this past is best forgotten but if you wish to know, I have as much of it as I've been able to dig up here in these folders." She looked Sparrow in the eye, her own eyes full of deep sympathy. "Personally I think you're better off putting the past behind you. You have a fresh start at a new life here and I think you should concentrate on that." She paused. "It is your decision, Michelle."

Sparrow looked over at David as though looking for his opinion. He shook his head. "I don't know, Sparrow. I haven't seen what's in that folder so I can't really advise you in this. All I know is that, based on the emotions I'm picking up, the information must be pretty grim and Grandmother thought that you might need my support. I can only tell you that I'm here for you regardless of what's in that folder."

The grim look on the faces of both Clarissa and Elizabeth was enough to convince her. "I think I would rather not know . . . and I kinda like the name Sparrow better. Somehow that name just feels right and that other name means nothing to me."

Elizabeth patted the folder. "OK, but I will keep these folders some place safe for you in case you ever change your mind and decide that you need to know." She picked it up taking rather decisive possession of it. "Remember that we are all here for you. Meanwhile I think I'll put this away where it will be safe." She paused a moment. "By the way, one thing that I think you should know is that your birthday is February 14, 2036."

Elizabeth and Clarissa stood up as Elizabeth remarked. "We have to get back to the office but we'll be home in plenty of time for dinner." Then they both headed out of the brownstone. A half hour later David headed back down to the tunnels and Sparrow, it was still the only name that she could see herself with, headed back up to the library.

As she sat in the library, the book barely noticed in her hands, Sparrow thought about the week that she had spent in this house. In that short time Sparrow had been treated like just another close family member and it had felt nice to be so readily accepted. The hints dropped by Elizabeth and Clarissa as well as her own feelings had left her with the distinct impression that this had not been a normal situation for her in the past.

Then her thoughts shifted to last night at that fantastic Winterfest celebration where she had met several more of David's relatives. She had been surprised at how many others like David there actually were. One of the things that she noticed was how surprisingly beautiful all of their wives were. One was even a retired supermodel! She had also noticed how many offers to dance from very pretty young women David had declined in order to remain with her all evening.

She had developed a serious crush on David in the last week and was very grateful for the attention he had paid to her, but she could not avoid being aware of how much better he could do for himself than a badly scarred girl with no memory of a terrible past and who couldn't even spend more than a few hours a year in his magical subterranean world.

After a few minutes she got thirsty and went down to the kitchen for a soda. She was about to head back up to the library when she heard sounds coming from the open basement door. She knew that she was the only one currently in the house. Everyone else was either at work or had gone below to help clean up the great hall. Glancing around the kitchen nervously, she spotted a decorative rolling pin and grabbed it.

She cautiously made her way to the door and quietly eased her way down the stairs until she reached the corner near the bottom. She peered around the corner through the opening into the basement. There were four girls in the basement and they were loading tablecloths into the oversized washing machine.

The oldest of the four girls was talking. ". . . danced half the night with Russell." The other two appeared suitably impressed.

As Sparrow turned to go back upstairs the second girl spoke. "Stevie, you're so gone on Russell. Everyone knows you've set your hook for him. Personally, I like David. He is soooo hot." Her words seemed to grab Sparrow and stop her in her tracks. I tried to get close to him last night but he spent the whole night with some girl that I've never seen before."

The third girl spoke up. "Yes I noticed that. Who was that girl he was with last night?

The girl named Stevie replied. "Don't know . . . maybe some new helper."

The fourth girl commented. "I heard a rumor that she was badly burned and looks pretty hideous without her wig and she has to take some kind of medicine just to be able to come into the tunnels."

The second girl continued in a slightly petulant tone. "I don't know what he sees in her. He can have any one of us from 'Below' that he wants."

Sparrow became very uncomfortable as she backed quietly up the stairs.

~ o ~

David was helping to clean up the Great hall when he felt a hint of _disquiet_. He looked around but he couldn't identify a source for the feeling. He shrugged and picked up one end of one of the large tables. Soon he and his younger brother, Russell, were carrying the table out the main doorway and up the windy stairway to the dining chamber where it normally belonged. The tables were too big to take up by way of the tunnels behind the great hall so they had to be taken up the long way. Then he was hit by a strong sense of acute _unhappiness_ and _disillusionment_.

Russell gave him a confused look when he paused momentarily. As he continued up the abyss stairs his mind drifted to thoughts of Sparrow. She had been staying with them in the brownstone for about a week now and David had become very fond of her. He had even spent every moment of Winterfest with her. Maybe he was becoming more than just fond of her. His musing was interrupted by the need to negotiate the opening into the painted tunnels from the abyss stairs.

~ o ~

Sparrow stood in her room looking in her mirror, her wig in her hand. "What could he possibly see in me?" She spoke to her reflection. She looked down at the brown wig in her hand. "I'm just fooling myself." She mumbled sadly.

After a few more minutes of serious contemplation she made a decision. Then she strengthened her resolve to do what she had decided was the best thing for everyone.

~ o ~

After several hours the tables and benches that belonged in the dining chamber had been returned to their proper location and the Great Hall was finally cleaned up. David sighed and looked tiredly around at the Great Hall. Normally he would have felt the contentment of a job well done but he just couldn't shake the sense of disquiet that had plagued him for the last few hours. He felt like he was missing something important but he couldn't figure out what.

"Well we're finished here." He told Russell with a friendly slap on the back. "It's late and I'm bushed. Mind if I crash 'Below' with you tonight, brother?"

Michael closed and barred the main front doors then headed up the main abyss stairway. Russell threw his arm across David's shoulder. "Fine with me, if you can support me long enough to get to our chamber." Together the brothers headed up the back stairs. Twenty minutes later Russell and David were both in bed, dead to the world. Peter trudged in about the same time and collapsed into bed next to Cherry who had arrived ten minutes earlier after a full day of shuttling Christmas shoppers around in her taxi cab. Elizabeth and Charles also got home very late and ended up going straight to bed.

~ x x x x x ~

It had been about twelve hours since she had left the brownstone and Sparrow was beginning to have doubts about the wisdom of her decision to leave New York but she suspected that if she had stayed in the city they would have been able to find her and try to get her to return. David would be better off without her hanging around getting in his way. Her damaged lungs made it impossible for her to live in his underground world and, despite that lovely home that they had, his leonine appearance made it impossible for him to have any kind of a life in her world. The rest of the family had been exceptionally nice to her and she didn't want to hang around too long and become a burden to them.

She had taken with her the brown wig and what clothes she could shove in a pillowcase. After a moment's hesitation she took the small stack of cash from the vanity drawer then she had left the building and headed toward the Lincoln Tunnel. She had only gone a few blocks when she had been given a ride by a young family that was on its way to their parent's place for the Christmas holidays. The next four hours had been filled with interesting and often amusing conversation. Then they had reached their destination. They had tried to talk her into staying with them because of the lateness of the hour but she declined, preferring to keep going.

She had been walking along the dark highway for almost five hours when a cargo truck picked her up. For the next three hours the trucker she was riding with had said very little and she felt disinclined to say anything to him. During the last hour however she had begun to feel a bit uncomfortable with the way the trucker would glance over at her. She had started looking for some convenient place to ask the trucker to let her out but there was nothing but trees along this stretch of road.

She spotted the roof of a building through a break in the trees just ahead and was about to say something when the trucker pulled off the highway. He pulled up and stopped next to the building that turned out to be some type of large old three story mansion. In front of the building next to where the curved drive branched off from the highway access road was a sign that read "**Dillon Bed and Breakfast **" Below that sign was attached a small plank that read, "**Closed through Christmas**" Next to the large house and attached to it by a breezeway, was a smaller building with a sign that read "**Katy's Restaurant and Pub**".

She turned to thank the trucker for the ride when he placed his hand on her leg. "Just a little R-n-R stop." He grinned wickedly at her.

~ o ~

David woke up with a start. Something was not right. The feeling of _unease_ had intensified and now he was certain that it was coming from someone else. Sparrow! It was Sparrow he was sensing! Then _fear_ and _disgust_ hit him like tidal wave. He was out of bed in a flash and, grabbing Russell's cloak, he shot out of the chamber at a dead run.

Russell looked up bleary eyed at the flapping tapestry and blinked in confusion.

~ o ~

Peter sat up in bed, puzzled at the sudden _confusion_ he was sensing from Russell and the _worry_ and _anxious uncertainty_ he was sensing from David. Cherry sat up beside her husband. "What's wrong Peter?"

"I don't know for sure but something has David very upset and he's headed in a westward direction at a very fast pace."

They both looked at each other. "Sparrow?" Cherry jumped out of bed threw on a robe and ran over to Sparrow's room.

The door was ajar and her room was empty. There were a few empty hangers on the bed and the brown wig was missing. There was a folded note on the bed with David's name on it. After a moment's uncertainty Cherry picked up the note as Peter entered the room. She opened the note and they both read it.

: : : : : : : :

_David,_

_You have been so kind to me and I hate to leave like this but it's for the best. I don't want to become a burden to you or your family. I have seen the type of women all of the Chandler-Wells men have married and you can do so much better than a wreck like me. Also neither of us can live in the other's world. I cannot let your kind act of sympathy stand in the way of your future and I don't want someone who goes with me just because they feel sorry for me. It's not fair for either of us. Please say goodbye to your family for me._

_Sparrow_

: : : : : : : :

"That poor child." Cherry remarked. "She doesn't seem to understand how much she means to all of us."

Peter shook his head. "It may have been sympathy that motivated David when he first found her but it is love that is driving him now. I don't think he even realized that he was falling for her until just now." Peter looked westward. "If she is as far away as his continued movement indicates then he must have formed a bond with her as well." Peter paused as a new though struck him. "He first sensed her in the park all the way down in the home tunnels." He looked at Cherry in surprise. "Could he have formed the beginnings of a bond with her before they even met?"

"I've never heard of that happening before." Cherry looked at her husband.

"Neither have I. The whole concept of forming a bond with someone that you have never even met seems so absurd." Peter shook his head. "I just don't see how it could happen."

"Do you think he met her some time before she lost her memory?" Cherry asked.

"I don't know. David never mentioned seeing her before and I'm sure that he would have remembered if he had."

~ o ~

The truck driver tried to force himself on her. Sparrow fought back with every ounce of strength she had. Her _fear_ and _disgust_ peeked only to be matched by a powerful flair of _anger_. The truck's horn sounded twice during the ensuing struggle. The driver tried to grab her hair and came away with a handful of brown wig.

With a harsh cry of surprise and disgust the trucker stared in horror at her scarred face and milky left eye. Then he kicked opened the passenger side door and shoved her out of the truck's cab. With a final shiver of disgust, he threw the wig at her and drove off without bothering to close the door. Stunned and the wind knocked out of her, Sparrow lay sprawled out on the cold damp gravel drive staring after the retreating truck.

A woman came running out of the building, glanced at the retreating truck, and then at Sparrow taking in her scars, the torn condition of her clothes and the wig on the cold wet ground next to her. "Oh, you poor girl! Come on; let's get you inside out of this nasty cold weather." The woman picked up her wig and helped Sparrow to her feet while trying not to stare at her scarred face. "That was a terrible way for that man to treat you." She shook her head. "I can't believe how awful some people can be." She noticed the blood on Sparrow's skinned elbows. "You've been hurt. We'll take care of that."

~ o ~

David stood beside the Hudson River, the chilled wind whipping the cloak about his body, and looked in dismay across to the Jersey shore. She was somewhere out there and he could still feel her _anger_ and _pain_. His sense of her was weak so she had to be far away, but he couldn't tell how far. He sighed. It didn't matter. As long as he could get a sense of direction, that was enough for now. He glanced over his shoulder at the first faint glow in the east that heralded the coming morning then scanned the shore on both sides of him. There was a ferryboat docked about two hundred yards to the south.

He pulled the dark cloak tight about himself and faded into the shadows as he quickly made his way toward the ferry. Ten minutes later as the Ferry pulled away from the shore it carried one extra passenger hidden under the frame of a slightly beat up U-Haul truck. On the far shore the truck pulled off the ferry with an extra passenger still clinging grimly to its undercarriage. The truck stopped at a traffic light near a large heavily wooded park and the stowaway dropped off. A few startled drivers saw the strange vision run past them and quickly disappear into the park but they were in too much of a hurry to get to their jobs to do more than gasp open mouthed at the sight.

_**Continued in Part 5**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	5. Chase

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 5: ****Chase**

Sparrow was sitting in the common room of the vacant bed and breakfast talking to Sheriff Matt while the kind woman named Katy, who it turned out was his wife, treated her skinned elbows. ". . . and he took everything with him when he left." She shook her head dejectedly. "Now I have no clothes, no money and no place to crash."

Matt nodded then remarked. "As far as that trucker is concerned, I'll put out a description on him and his truck but without a license plate number he may be very difficult to find." He shrugged to indicate his lack of certainty. "The chance of getting your things back is pretty slim but I will try." He closed his computer pad.

Katy gently touched Sparrow's shoulder. "Can you at least tell us what your name is, dear?"

After a few moments thought, Sparrow answered. "My name . . . is Michelle, ah, Michelle Farrow."

"Do you know if you have any family here-bouts?" Katy asked kindly.

Sparrow shook her head sadly. "I don't really think I have any family." She hung her head.

The sheriff turned to Katy. "We can put her up here for a while, don't you think?"

Katy nodded toward her husband. "Of course we can." She faced Sparrow. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to." Katy stood up. "Come on, Michelle; let's see about getting you settled in." She led Sparrow upstairs to one of the empty bedrooms.

~ o ~

David found an isolated culvert and stopped to assess his situation. He was barefooted wearing just a pair of loose pants, a thin comfortable shirt that he usually slept in and his brother's hooded cloak. Fortunately the weather wasn't too cold so he wasn't particularly uncomfortable. He looked up at the overhanging clouds ahead and then, with a shrug, set out in the general direction that he was sensing Sparrow from while trying to stay out of the sight of strangers.

About mid morning a soft drizzling rain had started to fall and David felt he had reached a point where he couldn't continue without the risk of being seen and he was starting to get soaked, so he took shelter in an old abandoned warehouse.

~ o ~

Shortly after sun-up Peter knew that David had crossed into New Jersey and was now moving west-south-west at a slightly reduced rate and there was equal parts _urgency_ and _caution_ ruling his son's emotions. After about three hours Peter became aware that David had stopped moving.

Clarissa interrupted his reverie. "Peter, you're the only one that can track him. We need to arrange a caravan immediately so that the moment he finds her or gets into trouble we can go after him." At Peter's acknowledgement she got on the phone to arrange for three vans to make up the caravan. The logistics of such a caravan were old hat but this was the first time it had been done at such a last minute. Also this was the first time they had done it without a clear destination or timetable in mind.

Clarissa brought home a map of the New England states hoping that Peter could use it to pinpoint David's location. Most of the family was now aware of what was happening and preparations were being made to retrieve David when the opportunity presented itself. Based on Peter's feel of direction and distance they were able to pinpoint David's location to within a quarter mile. Though a fairly large area it made it possible to map out the fastest route to the area. After getting that close Peter's sense could lead them right to him. It still took most of the day to get everything organized.

Immediately after sundown, just as all the preparations for the caravan were completed, Peter announced that David was on the move again. "He's continuing southwestward away from us and he is moving fast. I think it's fairly certain that he must still be following Sparrow and we have no way to know how far away she is."

~ x x x x x ~

**Christmas Eve**

David was making his way over open country. He wasn't quite sure exactly where he was but he knew that he was following a more or less straight line toward Sparrow's location. As near as he could tell she hadn't moved since yesterday morning when David had bolted out of the tunnels in his search for her. He was pretty sure that she was currently asleep.

Ever since that blast of _fear_, _revulsion_ and _anger_ yesterday morning, his sense of her had been steady and was becoming increasingly stronger. He had already realized that a full blown bond had formed between him and Sparrow. He thought about it and decided that the new situation suited him just fine. He had admitted to himself that he was falling in love with her while he had been hiding in that old abandoned warehouse yesterday afternoon. As far as he was concerned, the presence of the bond merely confirmed what he had already realized.

It was somewhere around four in the morning that David became aware of a group of several presences directly ahead of him and slowed down. He closed the distance carefully and soon found himself at the edge of a fairly large RV camp. The place was nearly empty. There were only a dozen vehicles in a place designed for about a hundred. It was still very early and there wasn't any one moving so David took off straight through the camp. He was over half way across the campgrounds when he was startled by someone emerging from the RV fifty feet directly ahead of him. A flashlight came on lighting that person's way through the darkness. He stopped moving beside some playground equipment and was hoping that in this dark overcast night he wouldn't be noticed. Then he sensed sudden fear and the flashlight beam came up and swung toward him as he turned his head away from the light. Then a woman's startled exclamation. "Who's there?" The flashlight beam touched him and stabilized. "Who are you?" The woman asked nervously.

David thought quickly trying to come up with some innocuous explanation for his presence. "I'm just having trouble sleeping so I came outside for a walk to clear my head. I'm no threat to you." David responded. He sensed her fairly typical _attraction_ response to his voice mixed in with her _nervousness_ and hoped that she would just pass him by.

"Well I hope the walking helps." She remarked as she gave him a very wide berth. She glanced back at him several times as she continued to the building that housed the camp's public restrooms and showers.

David was about to continue when he detected a less than benign presence and, looking back, spotted a man lurking behind one of the darkened campers. The unknown man was looking in the direction that the woman had gone and the emotions emanating from him were not particularly nice. Since he had not detected the lurking man earlier, David suspected that the man had just awoken and emerged from the camper while he had been speaking to the woman.

The lurking man glanced several times at David and was giving off _wariness_ and _impatience_ on top of his other emotions. The man was probably unaware that David could clearly see him even in this darkness. He appeared to be simply waiting for David to move on. After a few seconds David continued to the tree line at the edge of the park and merged with the shadows, disappearing from the man's sight. A few seconds later the man sprinted over to the building that the woman had entered. As soon as the man entered the door David emerged from the trees and moved quickly toward that building.

As he reached the door he felt the woman's _surprise_ and _terror_ just as he heard her muffled scream. David burst through the door then went left into the woman's changing room and saw that the man had the struggling half dressed woman on the floor beside a running shower stall. With a roar David leaped forward and grabbed the suddenly terrified man, throwing him across the room toward the doorway. The woman screamed again as David turned and advanced on the man, his clawed hands displayed for maximum visual effect. The man yelled in fear as he scrambled out the open doorway. He ran across the campground, jumped into his camper and seconds later pulled out spraying gravel everywhere in his haste to leave the area.

David turned around to see the woman still sprawled on the floor, her eyes wide as saucers, as she stared back at him. Her _fear_ was still as strong as ever as she stared back at him. He shrugged and sighed. "That guy is gone. You should be safe now." He turned and left the building closing the bathhouse door behind him. Seconds later the woman came running out of the building just moments after David had entered the woods. She looked around vainly for the creature that had just saved her but he was nowhere to be seen. With a deep sigh, she shook her head, shrugged and went back inside.

David breathed a sigh of combined resignation and relief as he continued away from the campgrounds. He hadn't really expected gratitude from the woman but it would have been nice. He had something more important to worry about; Getting to Sparrow and convincing her to come back home. He adjusted his course slightly based on his sense of sparrow's direction.

About an hour before sunrise David began looking for some form of concealing shelter. He was in an area that went from hilly uncultivated land to public park forests and heavily farmed valleys. He had just about decided to settle for the next heavily forested park and hope no hikers spotted him when he came over a rise and saw what looked like a long abandoned farmhouse. The surrounding fields had obviously not been cultivated for a long time and the small ramshackle farmhouse he found had all the windows broken and partially boarded up, as well as being surrounded by a collapsed porch.

David entered the farmhouse and found the interior in just as bad shape as the outside. He suspected that the place had been abandoned for several years and wondered what had happened to the farm. A quick scan of the place showed that it had been temporarily occupied on occasion but it looked like no one had been here for at least a month. He found a beat-up old sofa that wasn't in too bad a shape and settled down for the day. It had been a long night and he was very tired.

~ o ~

Sparrow opened her eyes, stretched and glanced around the small bedroom. She got out of the bed and stretched again then picked up the change of clothes that Katy had loaned her. She put the clothes on then glanced at the mirror as she picked up her wig. She paused at the sight of the ruined half of her face and felt that old black _despair_ rising up to engulf her. Then her thoughts went to David and by concentrating on him and his family she was able to push those old feelings away but those thoughts of her time with them left her with a layer of _melancholy_ in its place.

Sparrow entered the home's relatively large dining room where Katy greeted her. "Good morning Michelle. How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm doing OK." She replied.

"Michelle, I was thinking that even though the bed and breakfast is closed I still have customers for the pub and restaurant and I could use a little extra help just for general care of the place and to watch the register for me occasionally." She looked Sparrow in the eye. "I can't pay you a lot but the job is yours if you want it, at least until you get back on your feet and decide what you want to do. I'll even throw in free room and board."

Michelle thought a moment. It was actually a very generous offer. "OK, ahh thanks."

Matt entered the dining room. "Morning babe, morning Michelle." He gave Katy a quick peck on the cheek.

Katy replied. "Good morning dear. Breakfast?"

"Sounds great to me." Matt responded with a grin as he gave Katy a half hug then let go.

They were all distracted by the sound of a vehicle coming up the gravel drive. "That's odd. The cook is already here." Katy glanced at her watch. "Whoever it is, they're a bit early." She headed through the common room to the front bay window. "We don't open for another half hour." She glanced out the window to see a familiar camper pull up to the main house's front door. She looked over her shoulder at Matt in surprise. "It's my sister."

"Sally? Is here?" Matt responded as he approached the front door. "She didn't tell us she was coming down." He pulled the door open just as his sister-in-law was approaching it. "My god Sally, what happened to you?" He exclaimed as he took in her black eye, her bruised jaw and arm, as well as her pronounced limp. He reached out and took her elbow.

Katy rushed up. "Oh, Sally, you poor dear. Come over here and sit down." She began hustling Sally over to the dining room table and urged her into one of the chairs then she called out. "Michelle would you bring us some coffee?" She turned her attention back to Sally. "Tell us, what in the world happened to you?" Sparrow approached with three cups and a hot pot of coffee. "Thank-you, Michelle." Katy took the cups and pot from her and started pouring the hot coffee.

Sally took a sip of the coffee with a grateful sigh then glanced around at her audience. "I was getting really tired last night so I stopped and spent the night at an RV park about four hours from here. I got up really early this morning and went to take a quick shower before driving the rest of the way." She took another sip of the coffee. "This horrible man came into the women's section just as I was starting the water in the shower and he attacked me." She shivered with remembered terror. "He would have raped me right there on that hard cold floor but some . . . one else came in and stopped him and chased him off." She phased out momentarily as an image passed through her mind that she didn't think she would ever forget then shook herself. "Anyway I was so upset and I was as scared of my rescuer as the guy that tried to rape me. By the time I realized that I was safe, my . . . savior had already gone." Again she remembered the strange scene then she again shook herself back to the present. "I ran outside to thank . . . him for saving me but I couldn't find him."

~ o ~

David was startled awake when he heard the voices of a bunch of teenagers entering the farmhouse. It was still daylight outside and he was surrounded by open fields so he quickly and silently climbed up into the attic. The group of teenagers turned out to be made up of three couples and it was soon evident that they had chosen the old farmhouse as a convenient make out place. Snippets of conversation made it clear that this was the explanation for the signs of infrequent occupancy that he had seen. It was still daylight outside and the only access to the attic was visible to the teenagers, so for the time being he was trapped.

An hour later David was doing his best to ignore the highly _erotically_ charged emotional atmosphere in the little farmhouse. Glancing out through a small hole in the roof David saw signs that it would be dark soon. He was anxious to get underway yet still the teenagers hadn't left and there was no way David could get out of the attic without being seen. He was trapped. Finally in desperation, David started to growl into the old air-conditioning duct-work. The teenagers were startled and got very nervous. The girls were looking around worriedly while the boy's tried, unsuccessfully, to reassure them. The _erotically_ charged atmosphere was replaced by _nervous uncertainty_ mixed with a hint of _fear_. He roared once and hit a convenient rafter. That did the trick and the teenagers were falling over themselves as they hastily exited the farm house.

As the car accelerated away, David dropped down out of the attic, exited the other side of the farmhouse and headed off into the growing darkness.

~ x x x x x ~

David was moving quickly through a heavily wooded area and had to constantly readjust his heading as he negotiated the increasingly rugged terrain and thick stands of trees. He was in a relatively clear path through a thick cluster of trees when suddenly the ground gave way beneath him and He fell about a dozen feet landing with a jolt on a hard metallic surface. An instant later the dim moonlight went out as he heard a sharp metallic snap. He was crouched on a hard surface in pitch black.

He stood up and banged his head on something hard. Carefully he reached up and his hand came into contact with what felt like metal bars. He also felt something soft resting on top of the overhead bars. He carefully felt all around himself and soon discovered that he was in a six-foot by six-foot by six-foot cubical cage. The floor of the cage appeared to be made of a hard solid metal. He could feel only empty space beyond the bars that surrounded him. He felt _panic_ rising in him and paused to force himself to calm down.

~ o ~

Peter's sleep was restless. He could feel his son getting further and further away. He wanted to rush after him but until David had stopped moving it might be a waste of time to try chasing him down. A three vehicle caravan was unwieldy enough as it was and would tend to draw too much attention if they started zipping up and down a bunch of roads while trying to chase down a moving target. Suddenly he felt David's rising _panic_ and jumped out of bed. Before he could do more than start getting into his clothes he felt the _panic_ fade away to be replaced by _deep concentration_.

~ o ~

David reached up and again felt the soft material beyond the overhead bars. It was some type of heavy fabric. He managed to snag it with his claws and pulled it through the bars. The fabric pulled tight and stopped moving. He got a good grip on the wad of material that he had pulled through the bars and dug his claws in for a better hold. Then he pulled with all his strength. There was a moment of resistance then with a loud ripping sound the fabric came free and he pulled it all the way through the bars. Intermittent moonlight streamed through the bars and he could now clearly see his cage and the cloth that had covered it. The fabric was made to look like ground covered in a layer of fallen leaves. He was surrounded by walls of dirt about a foot beyond the bars. The entire ceiling was made of two hinged doors and he quickly located the latches. After a little study he realized that both latches had to be pulled at the same time to get the doors open.

By stretching his arms out as far as he could, he was barely able to reach both latches. He got his claws hooked into both latches and pulled. The first latch opened but the second slipped. His second try also failed. On his third try he got both latches released and the two doors swung open. He let one door fall back closed while he pushed the other door all the way open then he climbed out of the cage and closed the other door. He clambered the remaining six feet out of the pit. He looked back down at the trap he had fallen into. It had obviously been designed to trap some type of large animal and he suspected by the way the cage had concealed itself after he fell in that it was probably illegal. He tried to fix it's position in his mind and again he was on his way.

A few hours later he was out of the more rugged terrain and approaching a road and an all night roadside convenience store. As he got close he saw some man waving a gun at a couple of teenagers inside the store. No one saw him as he slipped up beside the front door where he stopped for a moment to listen. It was quickly obvious that the gunman was robbing the store and was getting _frustrated_ and _irrational_ because the kids didn't have access to the safe. David could feel the gunman's _rage_ building and knew that things were soon going to get violent.

Cutting loose with his most threatening roar, David burst through the front door and swiped at the partially turned gunman's arm, sending the gun flying and nearly knocking him off his feet. The man yelled in pain and fell back against a row of shelves. David was now halfway between the two teenagers and the gunman. He faced the gunman, raised his claws and roared again. The man hit the door so hard in his attempt to get away that he nearly knocked himself out. As he staggered of into the night, David lowered his arms and faced the two frightened teens. "I think you're safe for now. When you call the police tell them that there is some type of illegal animal trap about ten miles east-north-east from here. He turned and left. The night clerk and his girlfriend stared at the door for several seconds in stunned disbelief.

Three more hours later the sky was beginning to lighten with the morning and he had to find shelter. He finally found an empty shallow cave in a heavily wooded area and, after checking for any other occupants, settled in for the day.

~ o ~

Sparrow (AKA Michelle) smiled as she arranged the place settings on the just cleaned table in the restaurant side of **Katy's Pub and Restaurant**. She had just spent a wonderful Christmas day with Matt, Katy and Sally. They had included her in their Christmas day as though she were one of the family. When it came time to open the Christmas presents Matt and Katy had presented her with two colorfully wrapped packages. They contained new sets of clothes that had obviously been picked out specifically for her. She had been touched by their kindness. Now they were preparing the restaurant for tomorrow morning's crowd. Katy said that the morning after Christmas was usually busy. It felt good to be doing something useful and to be accepted by her new found friends. She glanced up at Katy who caught her eye and smiled encouragingly at her. Sparrow smiled tentatively back as she continued with her task. While she was rolling another batch of clean silverware into napkins, her mind drifted momentarily to thoughts of David. She wondered what he might be doing right now.

~ x x x x x ~

That evening, as soon as he felt it was safe, David left the cave and set off moving as fast as he could push himself. He knew that Sparrow was close and he was determined to reach her tonight if at all possible.

~ o ~

Hours later after a long night of moving at a near run David was getting very tired. It had been three days of hard travel, moving at night and hiding during the day. He had hardly eaten during these last three days and he was very hungry. He had even nearly been caught a couple of times but he had kept on going. Sparrow was very close now and he didn't want to stop but he could see the first rays of sunrise over his left shoulder. He was in the middle of a large group of open fields and he needed to get out of sight very soon. He looked around for some form of shelter and spotted a large metal barn or storage shed up ahead in the middle of the vast acreage of fields. A hundred feet from the large shed sat the only other nearby form of shelter. It was an old motor home with a green farm tractor sitting next to it. David could barely sense a presence in the motor home and would have moved on but it was too late in the morning and the shed was the only shelter available to him.

With another quick glance at the impending sunrise he approached the large metal storage shed. It wasn't ideal but at least it would keep him out-of-sight until nightfall. Then he could start looking for Sparrow. He could tell that she was very close and he had to fight the urge to keep going despite the danger of approaching daylight. He looked closely at the doors and realized that the lock was rusted and broken. A quick pull and the door on the right slid open about two feet.

He sensed the flash of _surprise_, _anger_ then _fear_ a moment before the loud bang rang out followed immediately by the rattle of something hitting the door beside him and the sharp sting in his calf. He dived through the door, pulling it shut behind him just as another bang and rattle rang out. David quickly examined his right calf. There were eight small holes. He was trapped in a shed in the middle of an open field by someone wielding a shotgun and he had eight pieces of buckshot in his calf muscle. This was definitely not good.

_**Continued in Part 6**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	6. Bigfoot

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Bigfoot**

It was the day after Christmas in the small farming town of Oaksburg, population 817 (counting the dogs) The small community was situated on the Maryland - West Virginia border, next to a national park and about 270 miles from the frenetic crush of New York City. Matt had liked it that way when he and his new bride had moved here from New York six years ago and bought that hundred and fifty year old twelve bedroom mansion, turning it into a moderately profitable Bed and Breakfast. The following year they had built the adjoining pub and restaurant. The nearest town of any size, as well as the nearest regional airport, was Hagerstown, about thirty minutes east of Oaksburg. Nearly two thirds of the guests to their Bed and Breakfast came from there.

Matt paused at the door of the sheriff office building and looked east at the low hanging clouds that were lit in red and gold on the underside by the rising sun just beginning to peek over the horizon. The weather service was predicting a couple of days of heavy overcast followed by a snowstorm that would be moving in from the west. Matt pulled his gaze from the spectacular sunrise and glanced around at the relatively quiet, peaceful and so very boring streets of his small community. The perfect environment to raise the child that they had been expecting back when they moved here. Now, ironically, both their children, a girl, five, and a boy, three, were spending their Christmas holiday with the Grandparents back in the frenetic crush of New York City. He shook his head with an amused chuckle and entered his office. Matt smiled at the toy gun and cowboy hat on the chair in the back corner of his office that belonged to his daughter, a pure undiluted tomboy that adored her sheriff father, and his son's toy truck sitting next to it. Matt sighed deeply as he sat down at his desk and glanced around the small rustic office. Matt shook his head as he scanned through the monthly incident report for December which consisted of the typical small town clichéd nonsense. Everything about this town seemed to be a cliché.

Matt's eyes came to rest on his name printed on his open door; '**Sheriff Mathew Dillon**'. For years that name had been his solid but unremarkable handle. Then that ancient TV show, '**Gunsmoke**', had turned up on the Classic TV channel six months ago and his name had quickly become a local joke. His wife, Katy, who ran their Bed and Breakfast, was more often than not referred to now as "Miss Katy" by the locals. He had even heard the small pub and restaurant attached to their bed and breakfast jokingly referred to as Miss Katy's Long Branch Saloon.

He looked up as Deputy Chastity Fredricks, most people called her 'Chaz', entered his office. Matt sometimes wondered if she had thought about the humor in putting the names Chastity and Fredricks together when she married Freddy. That thought made Matt frown. It was a shame that Freddy Fredricks had died three years ago in that tragic car accident less than a year after his marriage. Freddy and Chaz had been so good together.

"What's up Marshal Dillon?" Chaz drawled with the exaggerated old west accent she had copied from that old show. Since that old TV show had come out Chaz had started calling herself Chester and occasionally affecting an exaggerated limp around the office.

Matt rolled his eyes as he responded. "Same old boring stuff. Frank and his wife were fighting with the bank about their loan again last week. The Jorgensens and the Petersons are at it again. Otis was in the drunk tank last night. I have six unconfirmed reports here of encroachment by wolves and three unconfirmed reports of encroachment by bears. Oh and one Bigfoot report. There is also your brother's weekly complaint about teenagers in his fields. Nothing new ever happens around here." At that point the phone rang. Matt glanced down at the display on his desk phone. "Like I said, Chaz, nothing new. It's your brother, Henry." He chuckled as Chastity rushed over to her desk. Her brother was a farmer named Henry Jones. Farmer Jones, what could be more cliché than that?

Chastity came back looking just a bit perplexed. "Matt, my brother wants to talk to you. He said that he has Bigfoot trapped in his north storage shed." She shrugged shaking her head. "What can I say? He's my brother."

Matt picked up his phone. "Sheriff Dillon here. What can I do for you Henry?" . . .

"Now slow down Henry. What exactly is it that you have trapped in your shed?" . . .

"Are you sure it's not just a bear?" . . .

"OK, OK. Calm down and . . . just don't do anything foolish 'til we get there." . . .

"Chaz and I will be right there as soon as we can." . . . He hung up the phone and jumped up from his desk. "Come on Chaz. We'd better get out there before your brother ends up shooting some hitchhiker in a fur coat."

~ o ~

Ten minutes later Mathew and Chastity approached her brother very cautiously. "You can put that gun down now, Henry, we'll take it from here."

Henry reluctantly lowered his shotgun then waved one hand negligently at the shed. "It's inside the shed. Better watch out Sheriff, that thing's got long sharp claws and it moved pretty fast after I shot at it. I wouldn't get too close to it."

Matt glanced at the shed. It was a twenty foot by twenty foot metal shed with two large eight foot by eight foot sliding doors on the side facing them. Matt turned back to Henry. "So what type of animal is it?"

"I told you, I think it's Bigfoot." Henry insisted.

Matt shook his head. "OK, if you say so. Stay back out of the way; Chaz and I will take care of this." He turned his attention to Chastity. "You move in from that side; I'll take this side." Cautiously they moved in on the quiet shed. They had no idea what kind of animal Henry had trapped in there and things were complicated by his insistence that he had shot it. Matt was very nervous. An injured animal was twice as dangerous. Matt banged twice on the door of the shed. "Police! Come out with your hands up." No sound came from within. He pounded again. Still no response.

Matt reached out and checked the left sliding door. It wasn't locked. He turned to the nervous farmer that had come up behind him. "Henry, go get inside your mobile home and lock yourself in." He watched while Henry did as he was told then turned his attention to his deputy. "I'll take the left door and you take the right. On the count of three we'll pull the doors open."

"OK, Matt." She positioned herself on the other side of the doorway. Glancing down she noticed the two buckshot strikes on the right-hand door. She also noticed a few drops of blood on the large paving stones in front of the doors.

"Watch yourself, we have no idea what kind of animal Henry has trapped in there. If the animal makes a run for it just jump out of the way." They drew their guns and each grabbed a door handle. "One . . . Two . . . Three!"

They yanked both sliding doors open and jumped back, guns at the ready. Nothing happened. After two seconds Matt nodded and they both stepped into the open doorway. The inside of the shed was a cluttered mess with the center dominated by a very large complicated looking piece of unidentified farming equipment. Matt had no idea what it did and he didn't really care. All he knew was that it was big and it obscured his view of most of the interior of the shed. The rest of the interior was taken up with racks and shelves of various items normally used on a working farm.

Matt motioned for Chastity to circle around to the right then he began working his way over the cluttered dirt floor around to the left. He had worked his way half-way around the interior when he saw it, standing ten feet in front of him and froze in shocked surprise. A second later Chastity came around the other side and also froze when she spotted it.

Though there was no electricity to this shed, the morning sunlight streaming in through the large open doors and the four translucent fiberglass panels in the shed's roof did an excellent job of illuminating the interior. The creature was backed into the darkest corner and its head was covered by a deep hood, but Matt and Chastity could both still clearly make out its rather incredible features. The apparition before them was very large, about six and a half feet tall, and massively built. The creature's face bore a strong resemblance to a lion with the exception of its bright fiery red coloring. Its arms and hands and feet were thickly covered in the same red fur, and the hands and feet ended in long deadly claws. It was definitely wearing clothes, including a long dark hooded cape. Its head kept swiveling, warily, back and forth between Matt and Chastity.

Matt was also thinking that there was something vaguely familiar about the strange . . . 'lion-man' creature. Then with a quiet, "Oh my God!", he realized why it seemed familiar. With the exception of its coloration, it was the perfect representation of the New York urban legend of the 'Creature of Central Park'. Somehow the legend never mentioned the bright red fur. He was reminded of the creature craze of '41 through '43 when he was just a child.

Matt glanced over at Chastity who glanced back at him. She shrugged her shoulders as she mouthed, "Now what do we do?" Matt shrugged shaking his head to indicate his own uncertainty about the situation. Chastity and Matt slowly, cautiously started to move in closer to the creature. "I wonder if it can understand us." Chastity remarked mostly to herself.

Matt saw the hazard too late to warn her, and then things happened very fast. Chastity's concentration was totally fixed on the cornered creature as she moved slowly toward it. She was oblivious to the wall of sharp farming implements she was passing and she didn't see the rake that Matt had spotted as her foot was coming down on it. Matt watched in horror as Chastity cried out in pain, toppling back toward the deadly wall as the handle of the rake swung rapidly up toward her face while her gun flew out of her hand as her arms wind-milled vainly for her lost balance.

In the same instant there was a blur of motion and suddenly the creature was between Chastity and that deadly wall of tools, with one arm supporting her around her back and the other hand firmly grasping the handle of the rake less than a foot and a half from her face. By the time Matt had managed to cry out "Chaz!" it was already over. The speed with which that creature had moved had been incredible. As the realization of what had just happened sunk in, he had the distinct feeling that the only reason he and Chastity were still standing was because that creature was simply not inclined to attack them.

Heart pounding in fright, Chastity stared up over her shoulder into the golden eyes of the impossible creature holding her. Then after a second she glanced past the creature at the wall of disaster that she had almost fallen into. Then the next instant the creature set her back on her feet, propped the rake against the wall and backed away from her. It took another couple of stunned seconds before she realized that she was now unarmed.

Matt swallowed then spoke to her. "Chaz, are you OK?"

Chastity glanced over at Matt. "Uuuh, I guess so." Then, while trying to keep a wary eye on the creature, she began to search for her gun. After a couple of minutes she found it half hidden under a nearby shelf full of fertilizer and assorted chemicals. She retrieved it then stood back up. She glanced first at the creature, then down at the gun in her hand, then at the wall of sharp tools next to her. She shook her head, muttering. "I just can't do it." And placed her gun back in its holster.

Matt had observed her actions and thought that he understood what must be going through her mind. She couldn't bring herself to shoot the creature; not after it had possibly saved her life rather than taking the perfect opportunity to make its escape. For that matter he wasn't sure that he would be able to bring himself to shoot it either. As Matt and Chastity glanced at each other he remarked. "We can't just leave him here."

"Do you think we can get him into the back of the cruiser?" She asked uncertainly.

"We can try." Matt replied just as uncertainly.

Chastity began cautiously backing up trying to indicate to the creature to follow her. The creature glanced at Matt then began to follow her toward the open doors. Once Chastity and the creature were halfway to the door, Matt began to follow. He had no idea what he was going to do if they did succeed in getting the creature into the back of the police cruiser. He figured that he would just have to deal with that situation when it came up.

~ o ~

Katy Dillon, wife to Sheriff Dillon and manager of both the **Dillon Bed and Breakfast** and **Katy's Restaurant**, looked over at Michelle who was cleaning up the just vacated table. She had looked so lost and pitiable when the trucker she had been hitchhiking with had kicked her out of his truck three days ago. Matt had asked her where she was going and she had admitted that she really didn't know. After a quick discussion with Matt, they had decided to give her a job in the restaurant and put her up until she was on her feet.

In the three days since they had taken Michelle in, they had learned that she had no memory of her past; she only knew her name because someone had told her; and apparently nearly her whole left side had been badly scarred by fire. The young girl seemed to be a bundle of mysteries. Though she had no memory of her past, she had teared up when she had spotted Katy's collection of children's books by Peter Chandler-Wells taking up one whole row in the common room bookshelf. Matt had figured out, from various comments the girl had made, that she was running away from someone whose life she didn't want to ruin. Though nothing had been said about it, Katy suspected that it had something to do with her disfigurement. It all seemed so very sad.

Katy was distracted from her ruminations when Henry Jones came into the pub section ranting about the creature that Matt had captured in his north storage shed. The few other patrons in the pub laughed at him asking him if he had been getting into some of Old Walters moonshine again. Henry pulled himself up straight trying to preserve his offended dignity and responded. "I tell you it was Bigfoot and it was real. Matt and Chaz came out and took it away. It looked like a giant mountain lion but it walked on two legs, was wearing clothes and had bright red fur."

The crash and clatter of dropped dishes drew everyone's attention to the kitchen door where a shocked looking Michelle stood, her mouth hanging open. Half of the patrons started clapping and cheering. No one noticed the shocked look on Sally's face. Then Michelle ran up to Henry and grabbed his hand. "Please, where did they take him?"

Henry stared at her a moment in surprise then answered. "I think they took it to the jail." He then turned toward Katy. "I need a drink, bad, Miss Katy. That thing was huge and dangerous looking."

Michelle rushed over to Katy and began begging her to give her a ride to the sheriff's office, or at least tell her the fastest way to get to it. After a moment's pause Katy handed Henry a tall beer then spoke to Michelle. "I'll take you." She turned to Jack who worked for them as the cook. "Jack, watch the place for me. I'll get back as soon as I can." She grabbed the car keys from under the cash register. "Come on Michelle, let's go." Katy had no idea why a ridiculous tale about her husband having Bigfoot in the jail would have such an effect on Michelle but she was curious enough to go with her to find out. Besides she was also curious to find out what it was that Matt had found.

Sally placed her hand on Katy's shoulder. "I'm going with you and we can take my camper."

~ o ~

Matt urged Larry out of the office, telling him there was nothing in there to see. In the last hour a half-dozen townsfolk had come by wanting to see the Bigfoot that he and Chaz had supposedly brought in. It was amazing how fast rumor spread in a small town like this. So far he had refused to let anyone in to see the creature. He still had no idea what he was going to do with that creature now that he had it but he certainly wasn't going to turn it into some circus spectacle. If only they could figure out where it came from and get it back where it belonged.

Chastity came out of the jail section in the back. "I don't know if that . . . whatever it is, can speak but I'm dead certain that he understands us." She glanced back at the door into the back. "What are you going to do now?"

Matt shook his head. "I wish I knew. I'm just glad that it hasn't shown any signs of violence so far."

Michelle burst through the front door followed closely by Katy and Sally. "Where is he?" Michelle advanced on Matt, determination and desperation equally expressed in her face and voice. "Please, you have to let me see him."

"Now hold on a minute there, Michelle, what are you talking about?" Matt demanded, glancing at his wife and Sally.

"The creature you caught. I have to see him. I think I know him. Please, just let me talk to him." She turned to Katy. "Please, Katy, tell Matt to let me in to see him."

Matt glanced at his wife who shrugged then looked back into the desperate eyes of Michelle. This was not just another case of idle curiosity. This was obviously extremely important to her. Matt took a deep breath and looked over at Chastity. "Let her in, Chaz. Maybe we'll get a few answers."

Chastity opened the door to the back room and, with one quick glance at Katy, Michelle rushed through the door and stopped in front of the cell containing the creature which appeared to be standing waiting for her. Matt, Chastity, Sally and Katy crowded at the doorway to the jail section anxious to see what would happen. Sally gasped in surprise and recognition.

The creature spoke. "Hello Sparrow . . . or do you prefer Michelle now. Personally, I like both names. They are both beautiful names for a very beautiful woman, but I will always think of you as Sparrow." Matt was amazed at the quiet power and intelligence carried in that voice. Katy and Chastity nearly swooned at their first exposure to the creature's voice. Though she had heard it once before, Sally was still affected just as strongly as the other two women.

Michelle responded, her voice radiating a combination of fear and anger. "What did you think you were doing, putting yourself in such danger?"

The creature responded. "I had no choice. I've fallen in love with you, and now without you there is no safety for me."

She stared at him, momentarily struck dumb by his declaration of love. "But . . . why?" She shook her head. "I've seen the types of women the men in your family have chosen and I've seen the beautiful girls in your world that want you. Why would you want a wreck like me?" The bitter pain in her voice brought a lump to the throat of all four eavesdroppers.

"They say that beauty is only skin deep, but that is not really true. Real beauty comes from very deep within, from your soul. It's in the way you smile, the way you treat others, the way you touch those that you love." The creature replied.

"Those are pretty sentiments but they can't hide the scars that you must still face when you look at me." She retorted.

"I admit that you are not the most physically beautiful woman. I am not blind, Sparrow. Despite what they may say, true love is not really blind. When you truly love someone you are intimately aware of every flaw and imperfection. You can't help but come to know your lover's body intimately. I helped the doctor treat you when I first found you so I have seen more of you than you might think. But when a person is truly in love, they ignore those imperfections that they know so well because those things do not really matter to them. You are in love with the whole package. To the person in love, those imperfections become just another aspect that makes your lover that much more unique. In the end it is the person inside that you are really in love with. And being an empath means that this is even truer with me. I know you Sparrow, even better, I think, than you know yourself, and I love the person that I feel inside you." He paused. "And, as an empath, I can't help but know that you love me as well."

Chastity had gasped at the mention of the creature being an empath. Matt felt Katy's hand steal into his and when he glanced over he saw that all three women had tears in their eyes. His own eyes were beginning to feel a bit misty also as he gave her hand a squeeze.

"As far as physical appearance . . ." David cocked his head. "You have scars, I have fur and claws. I have no problem seeing past your scars. Can you see past my fur and claws?"

"David, you know that doesn't matter to me. To me you are beautiful." Michelle insisted.

"And to me you are beautiful. I want you back Michelle." There was a pause. "I would follow you to the ends of the earth if necessary."

"But someday you will want more than this scar covered body. One day you will want children."

"The doctor said that, except for the extra sensitivity of your lungs, you are a perfectly healthy young woman. There is no reason why you can't have children. I've already told you that the scars do not matter to me. One thing I can promise you; if we do not work out, it will not be because of your appearance."

"What if some day I get my memory back and I turn out to be some really terrible person?"

"I suppose anything is possible but, remember, Sparrow, I know your heart, I know who you really are inside and I don't believe that any additional memories will change that."

"I'm just so afraid that I will disappoint you some day. I never want to be the one to cause you pain."

"It's the chance you take when you open your heart to someone. You make yourself vulnerable to the one you give your heart to. There is the possibility that we will not be compatible or we could just simply drift apart over time or you could find someone that you like better. Love is always a leap of faith with no guarantees." He tilted his head as he gazed at her through the bars. "But the rewards are usually worth the risks. I'm willing to take that risk. What about you? Are you willing to take a chance on me?" He held out his clawed hand to her through the bars.

"But, David, how am I going to get you out of here?" She gazed at the barred door that separated them.

Mathew swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped through the doorway. "I never locked the cell door."

Michelle looked at Matt in surprise then she pulled on the cell door and, with a click, it easily swung open. The next moment she was in the creature named David's arms as they held each other tightly. After a few moments she pulled back and looked up at David's face. "But we still have to figure out some way to get you safely home."

David's eyes seemed to loose focus momentarily then he smiled. "My family is already on their way here. I'm not really that good at judging distance yet but I think that they should arrive soon."

Sally spoke up. "If I bring the camper around to the back door, we could take him to your place 'til his family gets here." She shrugged. "With the bed and breakfast closed for the holidays, as long as he stays away from the restaurant and pub, he will be safely out of sight." Sally smiled tentatively at David. "Besides I owe you for saving me from that rapist in the shower two days ago.

The others stared at Sally in surprise as the meaning of her words sank in. Sally shrugged at the others. "Now you see why I couldn't give you much of a description of my rescuer. You wouldn't have believed me."

_**Continued in Part 7**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	7. Confessions

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 7: ****Confessions**

It had been about four hours since they had arrived back at the bed and breakfast. Matt, Katy, Sally and Chastity sat in the private living area of the manor staring in fascination at Michelle and the incredible being that was the newest guest. They had learned that David lived in New York and that there were others like him that made up the basis of the urban legend of the Creature of Central Park. Sally had related to them the full story of what had happened to her in the RV camp shower.

They were interrupted by the sound of vehicles pulling up to the front of the house. Matt stood up and peered though the closed curtains. He saw three vans come to a stop in front of the house just as David announced, "My family is here."

Matt stepped out the front door to meet a very pretty redheaded woman approaching from one of the vans. He was immediately struck by the similarity in color between the woman's hair and David's fur. The woman took in Matt's sheriff's uniform and badge and stopped short looking very surprised and worried.

Matt gave her a little smile as he spoke. "I assume you are here to meet up with David and Michelle."

Cherry's jaw fell in surprise at the sheriff's matter-of-fact greeting then she recovered. "Ahhh . . . yea. How is he?"

"He's doing OK considering." The sheriff shrugged. "He was very hungry and had a load of buckshot in his calf when we found him but his wounds have been treated and he has consumed two complete lunch specials." He glanced at the three vans. "It's getting late and I'm sure you are all tired from your trip. You are all welcome to spend the night at our establishment."

After a couple of seconds the center van opened up. Another creature like David stepped out of the van and walked up to the strawberry blond woman. The creature placed his arm around the woman and she smiled up at him. At the same time two more women approached the sheriff from inside the building. One put her arms around the sheriff and the other stood on his other side. Then a third woman dressed in a uniform like the sheriff came out and joined them.

Then the creature spoke. "Thank-you for your kind offer. My name is Peter and this is my wife, Cherry. David is our son."

Matt, Katy and Sally all gasped in surprise. David had told them that his family name was Chandler-Wells. "Matt was the first to respond. "Are you by any chance the Peter Chandler-Wells that writes all of those children's books?"

Cherry responded with a strong hint of pride. "That's my husband all right."

Matt continued. "My name is Mathew Dillon." He indicated the three women beside him. "This is my wife Katy and her sister Sally. That is my deputy Chastity Fredricks. Katy and Sally are both very big fans of yours. Katy has a complete collection of all of your books."

The other two vans opened and four more people stepped out to join the group including one that was dressed in a New York Police lieutenant's uniform. Peter introduced them. "This is my sister Clarissa and her husband Phillip Winston." He indicated the woman and the policeman that were holding hands. Matt recognized both names from his two years on the New York police force. Peter pointed to the other woman whose hair was the same strawberry blond as David and Cherry. "This other young lady is our daughter, Catherine." Then he indicated the forth person, a distinguished older man. "This gentleman is Doctor Harold Peterson, a close friend of the family."

Matt glanced around then spoke. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you." His gaze centered on Peter. "I think we should get inside before somebody else comes by and sees you." He indicated the front door of the building and escorted the unusual collection of guests into the closed bed and breakfast.

Once they were all inside the house Doctor Peterson insisted on checking over David's injuries. Of the eight pieces of buckshot that had hit David, Matt and Chastity had managed to remove all but two of them before bandaging his leg. Harold removed the remaining two pieces then re-bandaged David's leg. Sparrow had been hovering over him in concern during the entire operation. After he finished Harold complemented Matt and Chastity on their first aid skills.

Peter, meanwhile, used Cherry's cell phone. "Hello Mother. I just wanted to let you know that we have found David and Sparrow and we have a safe place to stay for the night. I'll tell you all about it when we get back." Then he closed it.

~ o ~

Since it was close to dinner time, Katy told Jack over at the restaurant to make up enough food for twelve and brought it back to the dining room in the house. Katy and Sally were having difficulty getting past the fact that they were in the presence of the author whose books they had both loved as children and still collected. He told them a little bit about how as a young teenager he had started telling stories to amuse the other younger children. Then at his mother's insistence he started writing those stories down. It was his grandmother's best friend, Jenny Aronson, that got his first book published. It turned out that Katy had a first edition copy of that same book. Sparrow was amazed and amused that their hosts were more affected by Peter the author than by Peter the Creature. She chuckled at the dichotomy.

Matt glanced over at her. "What is it that amused you?"

She shrugged. "I just thought it was funny that David and Peter's very unusual appearance seems to have been rendered completely irrelevant by the knowledge that it was Peter that wrote all those children's stories."

Katy responded. "That is true. After all he **is** Peter Chandler-Wells, author of the best Children's books since Doctor Seuss. My sister and I learned to read from those books. What he looks like is only secondary." She paused and grinned. "To us he was an almost mythical figure. To discover that his appearance is just as mythical seems almost appropriate."

Sally jumped in. "It's like David said about what was inside being more important than the outer appearance." She turned her gaze on Sparrow. "I notice that you are the one that David spent three days walking across country at great personal risk in order to be with." She cocked her head. "And it's you whose shoulder his arm is currently draped across."

Sparrow blushed as David tightened his arm around her in a gentle hug helping to emphasize the truth of Sally's words."

~ o ~

After dinner Katy gave them a quick tour of the Bed and Breakfast. When Peter saw the collection of his books in the library, he autographed each of the books then, much to their delight, he read a couple of Katy and Sally's favorite short stories out loud to them. Matt mentioned that both of his and Katy's children also loved Peter's stories.

During all this time David stayed right by Sparrow's side. Most of that time he was holding her hand or he had his arm around her waist. Now that he had found her he was reluctant to lose contact with her. Sparrow was thoroughly enjoying the close contact.

As it got late, Chastity wished everyone a good night and left for home. Katy showed her unique guests to their rooms.

~ o ~

Sparrow had changed for bed when there was a knock at her door. "Uh, yes?" She responded uncertainly.

Katy's voice called from outside. "Michelle, honey, it's Katy and Sally. May we come in?"

Sparrow glanced at her wig over on the dresser. "One moment." She called out as she rushed over and quickly put on the wig without really looking in the mirror. Then she opened the door to let the two women in.

Sally glanced at her and a look of surprise and pity crossed her face. Katy remarked with gentle sympathy in her voice. "Michelle honey, your wig isn't on straight."

Sparrow ran over and looked in the mirror. In her haste to put it on she had caught some of the hair on the left side under the scull cap which held the rest of that side back almost to her left ear. The scarred left side of her face and plainly blind left eye clearly on display. Her hand came up to her left cheek as she gasped in dismay, then she caught sight of her exposed badly scarred left hand and forearm. It seemed like every time she started to feel good about herself, something like this happened to bring harsh reality crashing down on her. She collapsed onto her bed and sat there with her head in her hands trying very hard not to break into tears.

Sally sat down on one side of Sparrow and put her arm around her while Katy sat on her other side and gently adjusted Sparrows wig. "There we are. That's much better." Katy commented as she patted the hair into place.

"It makes no difference." Sparrow responded, shaking her head. "No matter how much I paint over and cover up, at the end of the day, I'm still left with this." He held up her burn scarred arm. She sighed deeply as she slowly rotated her hand as though studying some odd phenomenon. Both women felt the urge to look away from the expression of detached hopelessness reflected in her face.

Sally took hold of her chin and forced Sparrow to look at her. "Honey you're completely missing the point of what has happened here. You're letting your self-pity blind you to everything you already have. These physical scars are not really important to those that care about you. Didn't you hear what David told you back at the jailhouse?" Her gaze bored into Sparrow as she gave her chin a nearly imperceptible shake emphasizing her point. "Wake up and look at what you have. The most fantastic, and just plain damn sexy, person I have ever met has fallen in love with you. I mean he **walked** a couple of hundred miles in three days and through great personal danger just to get to you." She released Sparrows chin and gently pushed back the hair to touch her scarred left cheek. "You must learn to just accept yourself as you are and let go of this emotional baggage that clouds your thinking."

Katy jumped in. "Sally is right. If I didn't already have Matt, I would be doing everything in my power to reel that big furry lug in. I don't think there is a woman alive that could resist that voice of his." She shook her head and smiled. "You yourself said that he had many pretty young women to choose from but **you **are the one he wants." She took a firm grip of Sparrows scarred hand as her expression became more serious. "You have a chance at something that any woman would die for; a great love with someone that knows you better than you know yourself."

Sparrow looked at the scarred hand that Katy was able to hold without showing any sign of distress. She thought about David's behavior. He also had shown none of the reactions that she had expected when he had touched her. He had actually gone out of his way to stay in physical contact with her. It didn't seem to matter to him whether where he was touching was scarred or not. They were right. She needed to let go of her fears. She needed to accept, and believe in, all the things that she did have. In the last few weeks, several very nice people had become her friends and, apparently, David had chosen her over many other beautiful young women. Just thinking of David made her heart flutter and the idea that he wanted her made her feel warm all over.

With a soft sigh Sparrow looked at Sally and Katy giving them a half-hearted smile. "I know that you're both right and the idea that David really likes me seems like a dream come true . . ." She paused a moment. "But I still have a hard time believing. It's very hard to shake the feelings that have been with me as long as I can remember . . ." She hung her head and her voice became very soft. ". . . Short as that memory is."

Both women caught that last phrase despite how softly it had been said. "How far back can you remember?" Asked Sally, remembering a half heard comment from earlier about Michelle's memory.

Sparrow shrugged as she replied. "Four weeks." Which drew a gasp from Sally.

"You have no memories at all before that?" Sally asked. She had suspected that Michelle was being haunted by her past. Now it appeared that she couldn't even remember the past that was haunting her.

"Not a thing." Sparrow shook her head. "I didn't even know my name until a week ago when Clarissa finally managed to find out who I was." She shrugged. "I'm still unable to feel any familiarity with my name. It's just a meaningless random name that someone said I could use if I wanted to."

"Oh, you poor dear." Sally expressed her sympathy as the extent of Michelle's situation really began to sink in.

Katy cocked her head. "I noticed that David and his family all call you Sparrow."

Sparrow nodded then held out her arm to display the unscarred area on the inside of her left arm, showing the sparrow tattoo. "I have this tattoo and, for some reason, the phrase 'my little Sparrow' holds some positive significance to me so that was the name I took after I met David." She seemed to be studying the small tattoo as she continued speaking. "Even now the name Sparrow just feels right to me." Her voice got a little quieter. "Though I have no idea where or when I got this or why that name seems to have meaning for me." Her voice trailed away as she continued to study the enigmatic tattoo that carried some un-guessable significance to her past.

"Would you prefer it if we used that name from now on?" Katy asked.

Sparrow looked up at Katy as her mind seemed to return from far away. "I really do prefer the name Sparrow." She replied with a shrug and a shy smile.

"Then Sparrow it is." Sally responded as she gave her a friendly smile. "That name does seem to suit you, somehow."

They were interrupted by a knock at the bedroom door and David's unique sexy voice drew their full attention. "Sparrow, are you doing OK in there?"

Sparrow glanced at the two women beside her then responded. "I'm OK." She frowned. "Were you feeling my emotions just now?"

After a moment's hesitation, David responded. "Yes." There was a second's pause. "Sparrow, may I come in?"

She glanced at Katy and Sally. Both women were nodding. "Say yes." Katy whispered.

"Ah, sure, come in David." Sparrow replied timidly.

As the door opened Katy scooted over leaving an obvious opening as invitation for David who quickly sized up the situation and took the open space beside Sparrow. He took her hand. "I came to see if I could be of help." He glanced to either side of them and continued. "But I can see you already have two strong advocates here to help you."

"That may be so but I think right now you are more what she needs." Sally remarked to David as she stood up.

Sparrow blushed at Sally's comment and David smiled as he responded. "That is fine with me." He patted her hand. "I'm always here when you need me. I've fallen in love with you and I know how you feel about me . . . our souls have become tied together."

Sparrow's eye shimmered as she gazed back into his unique face. Twice now he had told her straight-up, with no prevarication or qualifiers, that he loved her. She felt like her frozen battered heart was turning into a warm puddle right there.

Katy's eyes opened wide as she looked at David in surprise. Sally's eyes also opened wide as her hand came up to her mouth. They had both remembered what had been said about the leonine male's bond earlier. A couple of moments later Sparrow also reacted as the significance of what he had said got through to her. "You . . . you mean . . . the bond?"

David smiled as he touched the right side of her face. "Of course I mean the bond." He brought his other hand up sliding it beneath her hair to touch the scarred side of her face. "How do you think I found my way here? I felt it when that trucker tried to attack you and followed my sense of you here." He gazed deeply into her eye. "You are part of me now. Whatever affects you also affects me."

"But . . . what if it is only the bond that ties us together?" She asked uncertainly.

The intensity of his gaze softened then he leaned in and kissed her as Sally and Katy both turned bright red and glanced away. At first Sparrow was too startled to react. Then her eyes closed and her arms came up around David as she slowly relaxed into the kiss. David's eyes closed as his arms enfolded her and pulled her against him. Her mind began reeling and she was seeing bright colorful sparks behind her closed eyes as she felt electricity shoot through her whole body. Katy and Sally were both becoming embarrassed, unsure what they should do.

They slowly broke from the kiss. Her eyes remained closed as she savored the warm tingly feeling that went all the way to her toes. After a moment David spoke. "Does that answer your question?"

"Uummm . . ." Was all the response he got from her.

Katy jumped up and moved over by Sally. "Uh, um, I ah, I think it's time for me to get to bed." And Sally added. "Yea, I'm a bit tired." They both beat a hasty retreat from the room and closed the door behind them.

Out in the hallway they stared at each other. "Wow!" Sally exclaimed softly.

Katy shook her head. "Um, yea. That was some kiss."

Sally nodded. "No kidding, even I felt the heat of that kiss." Then she shrugged. "Ah, do you remember why we went in to see her in the first place?"

Katy shook her head. "Not a clue." Then with a soft chuckle she hooked her arm through Sally's and led her away. "I suspect that she has what she needs now."

~ o ~

David leaned in and again they kissed. When they again broke they gazed into each other's eyes. With a deep sigh Sparrow closed her eyes for a moment. "I think I'm beginning to believe." She smiled shyly. "Maybe you should remind me again." David again expressed his feelings and she returned the favor. There was **real** passion in that kiss from both of them.

David and Sparrow finally broke from that very passionate kiss both stunned by the intensity of it. Then after several seconds they both became aware that they were alone and in her bed. They both turned bright red. David's strawberry blond fur only emphasized how deeply he was blushing.

David stood up and taking her hands pulled her up into his arms. "I really should go back to my room now before I forget myself." He kissed her again very quickly and gently. "I'll only be a thought away." As they separated she held on to his hand causing him to pause momentarily before reluctantly releasing him.

That night, for the first time in the last four weeks, Sparrow fell asleep with unclenched fists and a smile on her face.

~ o ~

Sparrow woke up feeling uncharacteristically happy. She glanced around at the small room as memories of last night came flooding back and she shook her head in amazement. She stretched and then hugged herself as she relived the kisses that she and David had shared.

She glanced at the small alarm clock beside the bed. [ 9:12 am] She had slept very late. She jumped out of bed, threw on her robe, and hastily donned her wig. This time she double checked in the mirror to be sure she got it on straight, and then left her room.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs she saw everyone standing in front of the main room's large bay window. David turned and smiled at her. "Sparrow, you must come see this."

As she approached the group she thought at first that the windows had fogged up. Then David drew her past him so that she had a clear view and she gasped in amazement at what she saw.

Everything outside was covered in a blanket of white. Directly in front were four large snow covered mounds. The lower quarter of the bay window and apparently the whole covered front porch was buried by the drifted snow. She could also clearly see that large flakes of snow were still falling out there.

Peter was the next to speak. "It seems that the winter storm that was supposed to arrive in two days, came through a bit earlier than expected and we had eight inches of snow last night." He nodded toward Matt. "And our sheriff friend heard over the radio that there is an additional six to eight inches expected throughout the day."

Matt jumped in at this point. "I talked to Chaz back in town about an hour ago and she said that this whole area is completely snowed in for the next three to five days depending on how long the warm front to the south takes to reach us." Matt shrugged. "It looks like you people will be celebrating New Years right here with us."

_**Continued in Part 8**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	8. Snowfall

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 8: ****Snowfall**

Cherry handed her phone to Peter. "Better call Elizabeth and let her know."

Peter dialed Elizabeth's number. "Hello mom." . . .  
"Yea we're just fine here." . . .  
"We're all staying in this nice little roadside Bed and Breakfast for the time being." . . .  
"We have already gotten to know the owners and they are very nice people." . . .  
"That's not a problem. One of the owners **is** the local sheriff." . . .  
"That's what I said, the local sheriff and his wife own this place." . . .  
"Yes, I'm sure. It turns out that the wife and her sister are fans of mine." . . .  
"OK, we'll be heading home once this storm clears up." He handed the phone back to Cherry with a bit of a chuckle. "I suspect there will be a lot of explaining required when we get back home."

Cherry grinned. "I can just imagine what your mom and dad must be thinking right about now."

Katy gave a tiny shiver. "We need to start a fire in the fireplace. Take some of the chill off."

Matt approached the large stone fireplace that dominated the inside wall of the common room and also opened into the small family dining room on the other side of the wall. He glanced over at the nearly empty firewood rack beside it. "Well looks like I had better chop some more wood while I can still find the woodpile."

Peter stepped up next to him. "Mind if I help?"

Matt shrugged. "It's fine by me. I could sure use the help." He put on his heavy coat and headed out the back. Peter threw on his cloak and followed right behind him.

As they left the room David went over to the fireplace and began building a fire with the last of the wood in the rack.

On the way out Matt grabbed one of the two axes and an old ratty broom that were located beside the back door. Peter grabbed the other axe on his way out.

About ten feet from the back of the house was a large mound in the snow. Matt went over to it and began brushing the snow away with the old broom. Soon they were looking at a large pile of whole logs. The logs in the pile averaged about a foot and a half long and about a foot in diameter.

Peter looked over the pile then asked. "What exactly are we supposed to do?"

Matt smiled and grabbed a log from the top of the pile as he replied. "We need to split the logs into quarters so that they will fit into the fireplace easier and burn better." He set the log on it's end and picked up his axe. With one swing he buried the axe half of the way through the log. He then lifted the axe with the log stuck to it and brought the whole thing down against the ground several times until he had split the log in half. He then set one of the halves on end and with one swing split it nearly in two. With a quick lift and drop he split it the rest of the way.

Peter nodded to himself, grabbed a log off the pile, set it down and, with one quick swing, split it neatly in half. Two more quick swings and he had four perfect quarter sections.

Matt stood there for a second staring at the split sections at Peter's feet then he looked up at Peter. "You're a lot stronger than you look aren't you?" He chuckled. "I got a pretty good idea how fast you are after seeing David in action but that gave me no indication of strength."

Peter nodded. "Strength, speed, dexterity, empathic sense and near immunity to disease are all part of our genetic heritage as well as our, rather unique, physical appearance." Peter shrugged. "How much of that is intentional and how much is serendipity is anybody's guess."

Matt chuckled. "Well in that case how about, I stack and you chop."

Peter nodded. "Works for me." Thirty minutes later they had a substantial pile of quartered logs.

The majority of the split logs were stacked in a bin just inside the back door. They carried the remainder of the logs into the common room. "That was quick." Commented Katy as they placed the logs on the rack beside the fireplace.

Matt nodded. "Peter here is pretty handy with an axe." He pulled off his coat and hung it on the coat hook beside the fireplace. There was already a nice cheery fire going in the fireplace.

Katy brought out a large bowl of unshelled walnuts and pecans. They all gathered around the fireplace and cracked and munched on the nuts while they talked about the local town and how Matt and Katy had ended up buying the old manor and turning it into a Bed and Breakfast. While the others shared the three nutcrackers, David and Peter were able to just use their bare hands and claws to get them open. Peter was soon opening them for Cherry and David was opening them for Sparrow.

Cherry was grinning as she accepted a shelled pecan from Peter and commented. "Sometimes it can be very handy having a strong spouse with claws." She chuckled then popped the pecan into her mouth.

Matt looked over at Peter, a puzzled expression on his face. "That reminds me, when we were out back chopping up the logs you said something about being uncertain how much of what you were was 'intentional'. Now that I think about what you said, I'm curious what you meant by 'intentional'."

Sally, Katy and Sparrow turned toward Peter, their interest peeked by Matt's question.

Peter stared into the fire and thought a moment before he replied. "**That** is actually a very complex and involved question." He looked at the cracked shell fragments in his hand then tossed them into the fire and looked up at Matt. "It's all tied in with our origins, so I have to go back to the beginning to explain." He glanced around at his audience. "It started just about a hundred years ago with Vincent. He was the first of our kind. He was found in the middle of winter as a newborn infant hidden in the trash behind Saint Vincent Hospital by a very reclusive group of people."

Peter paused a moment, cracking another nut for Cherry, and let them absorb the implications of how and where Vincent was found.

Peter tossed the shell fragments into the fire and continued. "Because of where he was found, they named that strange newborn infant Vincent. Though they had no idea how Vincent came to be, these people nevertheless sheltered and raised him as one of their own. The leader of this group even treated Vincent as his own son." Another dramatic pause. "One night, thirty years later, a wealthy high society woman named Catherine was assaulted and her body dumped, left for dead, in Central Park. Vincent found her, where she lay dying, and took her to where he lived. The man that had raised Vincent was also an unfairly disgraced doctor and he fixed Catherine up saving her life. After she had recovered enough, Catherine went back to her own life but she and Vincent kept in contact with each other." He smiled at Cherry letting his fangs peek out. "Catherine and Vincent fell in love and eventually they secretly married."

Sally was hit by inspiration and spoke up. "Are you talking about Catherine Chandler?"

Peter nodded. "That is correct. Catherine Chandler was my grandmother."

Katy looked at Peter in surprise. "Mother always admired District Attorney Catherine Chandler. She was forever holding her up as an example of what I could aspire to."

Peter nodded acknowledgment to Katy then grinned at Cherry. "Much to everyone's surprise, Vincent and Catherine produced five children, two boys and three girls. It was shortly after the birth of the first two children that Vincent's mother was found. Long story short Vincent's mother revealed that she was kidnapped by a madman that did some weird experiments on her and the birth of Vincent was the result. That madman died long before they found out about him and all his records are believed to have been destroyed in a house fire so we still have no idea exactly what he might have been shooting for when he created Vincent. For all we know he could have been going for the fangs and the rest was just unexpected side effects. I suspect that we will never know the answer to that question."

Matt thought about what Peter had told them. "So what **do** you know about yourselves?"

Peter responded. "My brother's wife is a very smart microbiologist and she has been studying us since she met him. We know what that madman did to our genetics but not how or why."

After that they talked about what was known about the leonine men's genetics then they ended up talking about various family traits in general.

~ o ~

After lunch Katy noticed that the snowfall appeared to have let up and commented on it. The fresh glistening snow was so inviting that they all bundled up and went outside. Sally, Sparrow, Cherry and Katy made snow angels. Meanwhile the boys started running around among the four large snow mounds that hid the visitor's vehicles and throwing snowballs at each other. After a while the girls joined in.

David caught Sparrow with a particularly large snowball and, after she recovered from her surprise, she decided to teach him lesson and build one about the size of a basket ball. Then, while David was engaged with exchanging fire with Peter, Cherry, Sally and Katy who had ganged up against him and Matt, she caught David completely by surprise with her massive snowball. David retaliated with his own nuclear snowball.

Challenged, Sparrow started rolling a particularly large snowball. She would show him a thing or two. As her snowball got larger she would glance at David, giggle and continue enlarging it. Once her snowball reached about a foot and a half in diameter, David came over and pitched in to help her make it even bigger. As the giant snowball passed three feet in diameter, others joined in and it eventually ended up around four and a half feet across.

As they admired the over-sized snowball David commented with a grin. "Well it's definitely too large to throw at anyone so what do we do with it now."

"Start over." Sparrow replied.

This time they ended up with a snowball that was around three and a half feet across. David again commented. "It's still too big to throw."

"We can put it on top of the first one." She replied.

It took Matt, David and Peter working together to lift the smaller snowball up on top of the larger one. Then they all stood around looking at their creation. "Still needs one more for the head." Matt remarked. He and Sparrow build a third snowball about two feet across.

As they looked at the two foot snowball and the eight foot high snowman body Sparrow asked. "How do we get it up there?"

"I have an idea." Matt responded and ran around behind the house. A couple of minutes later he returned dragging a ten foot step ladder. He opened it up and set it next to the snowman. Peter held the ladder steady while David handed the head up to Matt who placed it on top. Sparrow commented that it wasn't quite straight and climbed up the other side of the ladder.

Reacting to the sudden flash of _mischief _he sensed in Sparrow, David looked up just in time to see the two foot snowball come down on him. David was completely covered from head to toe in snow to which Peter commented. "Well that's one way to make a snowman." The rest broke out laughing as David stood there for several seconds.

David looked up at Sparrow looking down at him and grinning then nodded. "Ok, you win. I surrender."

After David brushed off most of the snow, he and Sparrow made a new head. This time, after handing up the new head, David stood well back as Matt, Peter and Sparrow settled the new head into place. The next hour was spent decorating the snowman. Katy brought out two blue coffee saucers to use as eyes. They used an old broken lampshade as a hat and a curved branch as a mouth. The nose was fashioned from a triangle of snow. Two five foot long branches served as arms for the ten foot tall snowman.

Matt dragged the ladder over to the side of the house then they all stood around to admire their handiwork. The temperature began dropping and soon they all returned inside. After shedding their snowy coats they gathered around the fireplace while Matt stoked up the fire. Once everyone was warmed up and dry Katy went back to the kitchen and began making a late dinner for everyone. Clarissa and Sally went back to help her.

After dinner they remained at the table and shot the breeze for a couple of hours. Then they all turned in for the night.

David was laying in bed thinking about Sparrow when he sensed her heading downstairs. After a couple of minutes he got up, put on the robe that Matt had supplied for him and headed downstairs.

He found her sitting at the table munching on a piece of leftover pastry. He grabbed a couple of sodas and they moved into the common room where they settled before the fireplace. The fire was low but still burning. David opened the protective glass doors and threw a log onto the fire.

Soon they had a nice cheery fire going. For a long time they just sat there together in silence, watching the fire, then she looked over at David who then leaned in and kissed her. Soon they were both engaged in a passionate kiss, his hand gently caressing the scarred side of her face. They broke and he smiled, his eyes shining, as he gazed at her. She felt a slight tingling warmth from some where deep inside that seemed to grow as they looked into each other's eyes. She knew instinctively that this unfamiliar sensation she was feeling must be love.

~ x x x x x ~

Late the next morning Sparrow woke up and, smiling, touched the scarred side of her face where David had caressed her last night. He really loved her . . . all of her . . . and the scaring didn't put him off at all. She finally believed that it was real.

She quickly got dressed and left her room. She found everyone but Peter and Cherry in the kitchen talking over breakfast. By the time she finished breakfast, Peter and Cherry showed up. About an hour later Chastity arrived at the bed and breakfast in one of the two police snow cat vehicles. She smiled as she greeted every one. "That's quite a snowman you have out front."

"We enjoyed building it." Matt responded. "What brings you all the way out here?"

"Have you heard the latest from the Weather Bureau?" Chastity asked.

"I haven't even thought about it this morning." Matt glanced at his guests. "Why? What happened?"

Chastity shook her head. "The southern warm front has stalled out over North Carolina and there is a second cold front moving in from the north-west off the Great Lakes. They are already issuing winter storm warnings for all of the east coast north of Virginia. By tonight they say that the entire north east will be completely snowed in. They're predicting up to an additional fifteen to twenty inches of snow tonight. The worst of it should be in a band extending from Ohio, through West Virginia and Maryland, all the way up through the southern half of New York State."

Matt sighed. "Well that means that we need to make the rounds. Make sure that everyone is secure and has everything that they need." He grabbed his coat and joined Chastity. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Come on Chaz, we've got a lot of outlying homes to visit." Together they left.

After a short time Katy brought out some games and decks of cards. Most of the morning was taken up with games and conversation before the warm fireplace. An hour after lunch Matt and Chastity returned. They came in carrying armloads of extra supplies.

While the supplies were being stored away Cherry noticed that Peter was sitting staring distractedly into the fire. She recognized his current emotional makeup as one she had sensed many times before. It meant that he was working on a new story. She touched his shoulder. "What are you thinking so hard about dear?"

Peter looked up at her and smiled. "Just working out the plot of a new story."

Cherry glanced around to see that everyone had heard and were now looking at them. "Can you tell us the new story?"

Peter also glanced at the others then nodded his head. "I've just about got the plot worked out in my head. I guess this is as good a time as any to record the first draft version of the new book." His gaze swept the room. "The rest of you can be my beta editors." He stood up. "Let's move into the common room and I'll go up and fetch my recorder."

~ o ~

Peter stood by the fireplace and faced the rest them. "This new story is very loosely based somewhat on the adventures of David and Sparrow." He paused a moment, placing his hands behind his back, and composed himself while getting his thoughts organized.

He looked so much like a professor about to deliver a lecture that it caused Katy to giggle. Peter glared at her with half raised eyebrow, which caused Cherry to also giggle, and then he cleared his throat and broke into a big grin. He turned on his voice-to-text recorder then began to speak in a clear and concise voice. "This is the first draft of 'Skin Deep' by Peter Chandler-Wells . . . Chapter 1 . . . It was a cold mid-winter night as the half moon shown down through the leafless branches . . ."

Within seconds he had his impromptu audience totally engrossed in the new story. Though set in a medieval fantasy world of fairytale creatures and magic, Sparrow and David were able to recognize the elements of their own recent story in the magical tale that he was weaving. Everyone in that room caught references to themselves as the tale unfolded.

~ o ~

". . . side by side as the young couple stared out to sea and into the future of renewed hope . . . The End." The room became totally silent broken only by the crackling of the fire.

After a moment Chastity broke the silence. "That was beautiful."

Clarissa spoke next. "Peter you've done it again." Then everyone was enthusiastically praising his story.

"Well it's still very rough and many of the scenes are far from completely realized, but thank-you for your kind words." He glanced at the clock. "Now it looks like it's past dinner time and I'm hungry."

During dinner they all talked about the new story and Peter carefully made note of everyone's comments and questions. By the time dinner was over he already had enough material to generate a second, more polished and complete, draft.

By the time Chastity left to return to her home the second storm front was already moving in.

~ x x x x x ~

Next morning the snow was so deep that all of the outside doors were blocked by massive snow drifts. Everyone gazed out of the half covered front bay window at the snow altered front landscape. The mounds of the four vehicles had nearly vanished into one huge snowdrift. The nights snow had also blurred the lines of the giant snowman out front and dressed it in a long flowing skirt.

Later that morning Elizabeth called Peter to see how everyone was doing and to report that New York was also currently experiencing extremely heavy snowfall. Most businesses were already closed as the city was rapidly being snowed in. The emergency crews were already working overtime to try to keep the city running but it looked like they were fighting a loosing battle.

Matt called Chastity to verify that she was doing OK. She said that the town was completely shut down but she was still able to get around in the police snow cat. Then Matt and Katy called her parents in New York and talked to their two children after which they handed the phone to Sally so she could talk to her two kids. The grandparents assured them that they were enjoying having all four grandchildren staying over.

An hour later Sally's husband Tom called to tell her that all flights to New York had been canceled so he was not going to make it home that evening as planned. She informed him that she was also stranded at her sister's place but that so far she was really enjoying her visit.

_**Continued in Part 9**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	9. Weatherbound

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 9: ****Weather-bound**

The entire city of New York had been practically shut down by the massive winter storm that covered most of the north-eastern states leaving Elizabeth without a whole lot to do. The tunnels gave her easy safe access to and from her work but she was nearly the only one there. She would spend about a half day handling the rare phone call and cleaning up the ever present piles of paperwork then head home in the middle of the afternoon. The rest of her day was spent helping out down in the tunnels or enjoying family time at the family brownstone. Charles, who also had easy tunnel access, spent his days supervising the emergency aid efforts of the Wells-Chandler foundation and his evenings at home. The rooftop garden had become a miniature winter wonderland and ended up hosting a snowman and a couple of family snowball fights.

Elizabeth also called Peter and Cherry a couple of times during the week to see how they were doing in that bed and breakfast that they were staying in. She figured that there would be some interesting tales to be told once this storm was over and everyone was back home.

After that first call from Peter at the bed and breakfast, Elizabeth had looked up the police department records of Mathew Dillon. He had only been on the New York police force a few years but had managed to distinguish himself as an excellent officer. A few months after his marriage he had been wounded while saving two other officers and a half dozen civilians during a shootout with a small group of drug crazed gang members in a bungled bank robbery attempt. During that encounter he had been forced to shoot and kill one of the young gang members. Shortly after that incident he left the force and moved out to a small town called Oaksburg. He still had family on his wife's side living in New York.

~ o ~

At the bed and breakfast, the following snow covered days settled down into a routine. Each morning Matt and Chastity would make the rounds in the two police snow cats to see if anyone needed any help or emergency supplies. One family had to be relocated to a neighbors house when their roof collapsed under the weight of the snow. Peter and David helped Matt remove the very large tree branch that blocked the main thoroughfare and took out the power line. Matt and Chastity had to transport the repair crews to the downed power line and to a water main break near the west end of the town. The rest of the emergencies turned out to be relatively minor and easily dealt with.

Most of the afternoons were spent in play outside in the snow. The Dillon Bed and Breakfast had five snowmobiles that they would normally rent out to guests during the winter ski season. All five snowmobiles got a lot of use that week as they explored the surrounding terrain, including the national park just north of the bed and breakfast. There were also more than a few snowmobile races during those days. David managed to flip one of the snowmobiles during one of the races but there was no damage other than his pride. Each evening was spent before the fire playing games and talking. Late in the evening Katy and Sally would call their parents in New York to talk to their children who, it seemed were loving the snow.

Sparrow and David had been put in adjacent rooms which turned out to be convenient. It allowed him to get to her quickly whenever she had one of her fiery nightmares. As soon as he reached her side the nightmare would subside and she would usually fall back into a peaceful sleep without ever waking up. She would wake up the next morning unaware of the nightmare or David's presence during the previous night. In the last week those nightmares had become much fewer, rarely happening more than once in a night.

The fourth night after the second storm front came through turned out to be particularly rough for Sparrow. Shortly after midnight the nightmare took hold stronger and faster than normal. David rushed into her room but this time the _pain_ and _horror_ in the nightmare continued to build. Then she cried out as she woke up shivering violently in David's arms.

Seconds later Peter and Cherry appeared at the door and Cherry spoke, her voice full of concern. "Is Sparrow OK?"

David glanced down at the still crying girl in his arms. "I don't know. I haven't seen it this severe since that first day she woke up in the brownstone." He looked back down at her shivering body. "It's OK Sparrow, I'm here. You're safe."

Katy and Matt, dressed in their bath robes, approached and Matt inquired, "We heard Michelle, ah Sparrow cry out. Did she have another one of her nightmares?" Katy added. "I thought they had gone away since David got here."

Peter replied quietly. "No, they haven't gone away but, up 'til now, they have been fewer and less severe and David could usually soothe them away before they woke her up."

Sparrows tremors were easing up as she regained control of herself. David eased up a bit on his hold on her as he felt her emotions calm down and her shivering abate. "Sparrow, are you OK? What happened?"

"It was that same nightmare. I heard the screams all around me but this time I heard myself crying out for someone named . . . Terry. I was in a panic looking for someone." She looked up confused. "I think it was a baby that I was looking for." She paused as she clutched at David almost convulsively. "I looked up and there was a demon, laughing at me as I was burning. Then the demon changed into an even more evil man that I seemed to recognize." She shook her head. "But I don't know who he is." She shivered as she put her arms around him. "Please hold me tighter."

"I'm here, Sparrow." He reassured her as he tightened his embrace. "I will always be here for you."

Then, with a sigh, she relaxed in his embrace as the remnants of the nightmare seemed to drain out of her. Finally she looked up into David's eyes. "But what does it mean? Who was that evil man and who is Terry?"

David shook his head. "I don't know all the answers." He paused weighing what he should say. "When I first brought you to our home, the doctor told us that you had already given birth to at least one child." He kissed her forehead. "Maybe the case files that Grandmother kept can explain the rest. We can call her in the morning and ask."

Peter commented quietly to the other's standing at the door. "I think David's got things under control. I'm going back to bed." He and Cherry headed back to their room and, nodding in agreement, Matt and Katy returned to their room.

When David started to get up Sparrow clutched his arm. "Please, don't go, David. Stay with me."

There was such _need_ in her that he couldn't refuse. David put his arms back around her and settled himself more comfortably. She soon fell back asleep but she had her head on his chest and his sleeve tightly gripped in her right hand so he couldn't leave her bed without awaking her. He ended up spending the night sleeping in her room with her wrapped in his arms.

~ x x x x x ~

Sparrow awoke that morning still wrapped in the arms of a sleeping David. She lay there savoring the feeling of lying in his arms until he finally woke up. "Good morning Sparrow." He smiled at her then turned just a bit redder.

She glanced down shyly, also blushing a bit. "Uh, thank-you for being there for me last night."

David nodded. "Anytime."

They awkwardly disengaged and David made his way to his room to get ready for the day. When they got downstairs Sparrow felt just a bit embarrassed, thinking they all knew that she and David had slept together but no one showed any sign of having noticed and she finally relaxed.

Halfway through the morning David and Sparrow put in a call to Elizabeth and talked to her about last night's nightmare. After a short discussion about how much Sparrow did and did not want to know, Elizabeth told her that she had lost her child, named Terry, in the same fire that had burned her. Elizabeth also told her that the fire had been caused by a family member that died several days later. Sparrow thanked her for the information.

~ o ~

After Elizabeth got off the phone with Sparrow and David, she pulled out the case files she had on Sparrow and went through them to see if there were any more clues to what had happened to her. One thing she got from the files was the name of the detective that had run the original investigation back in Nebraska. She put in a call to him and talked to him for over an hour about the three related cases while taking down any additional details that he could remember. During the several years she spent working with her mother-in-law and father at the DA office, Elizabeth had learned that she could get a lot more information by simply supplying a sympathetic ear than she could by intensive questioning.

The detective told her that Michelle did not have any tattoos back when he investigated her case but he remembered that she did have a roughly bird shaped birthmark on her left forearm. He also told her that Michelle had an older brother, named Tony, that left home less than a month after Michelle disappeared. She had no living relatives other than her father, mother and older brother. They had been such a picture perfect family when the children were young. He told Elizabeth how neighbors remembered seeing them at the church socials. He had learned from a classmate that Michelle's mother often called her 'Little Sparrow' after that children's book that Michelle loved and because of the bird shaped birthmark. Church friends reported that the father had always been very strongly religious but he loved his kids. He had supposedly changed for the worse when the scandal about his daughter's pregnancy first broke. His treatment of his daughter soon became a bigger scandal than her pregnancy. Then he just seemed to have gone off the deep end when his brother was killed by the police, blaming it all on Michelle. Michelle's mother had been unable to handle the disintegration of her husband and ended up leaving him. Shortly after that the father sold off everything he owned and had gone off to join some wacko religious group somewhere in New Mexico. The detective said that he had no idea what became of the mother and brother.

After over an hour of talking to Elizabeth about the case, the detective asked her why she was so interested in a seven year old closed case. Elizabeth responded that there was a possibility that Michelle was currently in New York. That was all that the detective could get out of her. She did talk the detective into promising to let her know if any more information should turn up on the case.

The next day Elizabeth started an online search for any information about Michelle's mother and brother. She wasn't sure what she would do if she found them but she wanted to, at least, find out what happened to them.

~ o ~

At lunch Katy noticed how quiet Sparrow was and as they sat around the fireplace. She reached out to touch Sparrow's hand sympathetically as she commented. "You seem unusually somber Sparrow; are you feeling OK?"

Sparrow looked up at her and nodded. "I'm feeling just a little bit melancholy is all . . . I just found out that I had a baby that died in the same fire that got me." She took a deep sigh of a breath. "I'll be OK." She leaned into David drawing comfort from the contact.

~ x x x x x ~

After nearly a week the jet stream shifted northward and the stalled out warm front finally moved north. The snow began to melt; turning to slush and mud and creating a greater mess than before. The sheriff's department was flooded with calls for help from people that had braved the deteriorating conditions and got themselves hopelessly mired in the slush and mud. There were also calls from a few people that were threatened by the rising water in a couple of the low-lying areas.

Peter and David both offered to help if they could figure out a way to do it safely. Matt and Katy managed to dig up a large hooded parka and two wool mufflers to cover the bottom half of their faces. Chastity was able to come up with a second parka and two pairs of heavy duty work gloves. They split into two teams in order handle more calls. Chastity teamed with David and Matt teamed with Peter. The sheriff's office line was rerouted to the bed and breakfast and Clarissa took the calls while Katy acted as dispatcher. Two other locals with snow tires on their four wheel drive trucks also pitched in to help in the emergency. Doctor Peterson offered to help treat the injured and sick so he was dropped off at the school where the refugees and those needing help were being taken.

A few hours later, Katy reported that Henry Jones had called for help. "He apparently went out to check both of his storage sheds to see if the there had been any damage from the snows. He slid off the road six miles out on FM-1630 and his camper got mired in the mud."

"That area is a flood plain in the middle of nowhere and we're the closest." Chastity commented then she glanced worriedly at David. "David, that is my brother and the one that shot you . . . are you OK with this?"

David smiled warmly at her. "No problem . . . as long as he doesn't take another potshot at me while I'm helping."

Chastity nodded and changed direction while reporting in that she was responding to the call from Henry. She pushed the snow cat as fast as it could go. "I've lived here all my life and I've known that area go from nothing to five feet of water in thirty minutes when the heavy snows melt too quickly." She remarked in explanation. David merely nodded his understanding as she guided the snow cat to their destination.

When they reached the location the water and mud in the wide ditch was up to the camper's doors and was flowing at a respectable rate. The road was about four feet above the surrounding terrain and five feet above the drainage ditch. After a quick assessment of the situation David suggested a plan of action. "If that water rises much more it will sweep that camper away. The track cat will get mired if you take it down there so we need to get a cable on that camper and drag him out of there from up here. I'm a lot heavier and stronger than you so I'm less likely to get swept away. I'll take the cable."

She knew that he was right. "OK." She laid her hand on his forearm as he opened the door. "That water's already pretty deep and swift so you be careful."

Chastity released the clutch on the tow cable and David slogged his way down to the camper with the cable. As he worked his way down the muddy slope his feet went out from under him and he slid the rest of the way down into the water. He had difficulty getting back on his feet in the fast moving water and slipped down again. Once he got to the camper he had to reach into the water underneath the camper to find a frame member to hook the cable onto. Finally after a thorough soaking he got the cable secured.

He worked his way around to the door and knocked on the fog covered window. "You need to get up there to the snow cat where you will be safe." He called out.

Henry got out of the camper and David helped him make his way over to the cable. "Hold on to the cable until you make it up to the road."

Henry got a firm grip on the cable then looked up for the first time at his rescuer. He let go of the cable as he gasped in _surprise_ and _fear_. David sensed Henry's reaction and realized that his muffler had slipped but he didn't have time to do more than catch Henry and get his hands back onto the cable and give him a firm shove up the cable toward the snow cat. "Get moving. Your sister's waiting in the cat for you." Then he turned his back on Henry and made his way back to the door of the camper while Henry, spurred on by his fear, scrambled along the cable as fast as he could manage. David put the camper in neutral and got the front wheels straightened out then signaled for Chastity to start pulling.

Henry scrambled into the front passenger seat of the snow cat, his eyes wide with his fear. "Chaz! Chaz, that's it! That's the Bigfoot." He was out of breath and babbling. "He's back and he's after me."

Chastity shook her head. "Calm down, Henry. Nobody is after you. Now strap in." She saw David's signal. "Here we go." She started slowly backing the snow cat up and the camper began to move. Slowly, steadily the camper moved up the slope as Chastity concentrated on keeping an even tension on the cable. Too much tension or a sudden change and the cable could snap causing all kinds of problems.

"You don't understand, Chas, that's the Bigfoot I shot." Henry exclamed excitedly.

Chastity continued concentrating on what she was doing as she responded. "Yes, Henry, I know and his mother's a bit put out with you for shooting her son. **Now zip it!** I need to pay attention to what I'm doing."

Finally after several minutes they got the camper up onto the road and David guided it to a wide spot on the shoulder of the road. He brought the camper to a stop well away from the road and turned on the flashers then he closed up the camper and disconnected the cable. Chastity began reeling in the tow cable as David followed it back to the snow cat.

"It's coming this way." Henry announced fearfully.

Chastity turned toward her brother in exasperation. "His name is **David** and he just saved both your worthless ass and that piece of junk you call a camper so behave yourself or I'll personally throw you back in that gully and leave you there."

Henry stared back at his sister in stunned surprise. "But . . ."

"**I said zip it!**" She cut him off.

David opened the door and climbed into the back of the snow cat. The atmosphere was thick with complex emotions coming from both of the other occupants. "The camper should be safe until we can get a tow truck out here." He told them.

Chastity acknowledged David's remarks and added her report. "While you were out there we got in three more reports of houses endangered by the melting snow."

David glanced over at Henry who was staring, wide eyed, back at him. "We need to drop your brother . . ."

They were interrupted by a female voice on the radio announcing that she had just found the Silver Creek Road completely washed out past the hi-way. All three of them glanced at the radio in surprise.

Henry remarked. "That's near my house."

Chastity remarked. "We're cut off from Henry's house now."

David remarked. "That voice sounded like Mother."

Chastity glanced at David. "Your mother?"

David shook his head. "It sounded like her." He shrugged then turned his attention to Chastity. "It looks like we will have to drop your brother off at Katy's place for now since its closest."

Chastity nodded, swung the snow cat around and gunned it.

~ o ~

Chastity, Henry and David entered the common room of the Bed and Breakfast. Chastity guided her brother over to the dining room table next to the fire. David removed most of his soaked outer clothes and hung them by the fire. At the same time he glanced around. "Where's Mother?"

Katy looked up. "Cherry found that old broken down snow cat we had in the storage shed out back. It took her less than two hours to get it repaired and running again. When she said that she was going to take it out to help the others I told her it was too dangerous." Katy shook her head. "She said that if she could manage to drive a taxi in New York for twenty-five years then she could handle a little bit of snow."

Clarissa spoke up. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Phillip went with her."

David nodded. "That sounds like Mom alright." He let out with a short snort of a laugh. "If it's mobile then she can fix it and drive it." He turned toward the stairs. "I'm going upstairs to change into some dry clothes then Chaz and I will be going back out."

During this entire exchange Henry had stared at David and the other's in the room in confusion. No one seemed to even be aware of the fact that he was not even human. Katy and Clarissa were too busy on the phone and radio but another girl that had identified herself as Cathy kept staring at Henry.

After a while Catherine finally spoke. "So you're the one that shot my brother."

~ o ~

Late that evening the rescuers returned to the bed and breakfast, exhausted but satisfied with the results of their efforts. As they sat around the table eating a late dinner and discussing their exploits, Henry sat in the corner watching the whole thing with a mixture of amazement and uncertainty. It was so late and conditions were so treacherous that Chastity decided to stay the night at the bed and breakfast.

The next morning Chastity told her brother that he could stay with her for a few days until the high water had receded and took him home.

That evening Sally got a call from her husband reporting that he had arrived safely back in New York and picked up the children from their grandparents. He also reported that he had brought Matt and Katy's kids home as well to give the grandparents a respite.

By the day after that the high water crisis seemed to be over.

_**Continued in Part 10**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	10. Family

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 10: ****Family**

Three days after the warm front moved in the roads were finally clear enough for the trip back home. Early that morning Katy and Sally were preparing breakfast and talking about their husbands and kids. They had been commenting on their husbands' foibles when Sally sighed shaking her head. "Katy, this last week has been a real blast but I must admit that I'm awfully anxious to get back to that overeating, forever yapping, hit in the head too many times, football playing, bull headed stud of mine." She grinned then glanced down blushing when she heard Peter's amused chuckle. "I didn't see you standing over there."

"I just came in." Peter responded with a grin. "I wouldn't have missed that riff on your husband for anything."

"What riff is that?" Sparrow asked as she approached the kitchen doorway.

"Sally's description of her husband." Peter responded then he proceeded to repeat Sally's comment verbatim.

Sparrow looked at Sally in surprise as Sally, blushing, retorted. "Hey he may not be perfect but he's mine and I wouldn't trade him for the world." She grinned at Sparrow. "Even David, as sexy as he is, couldn't tempt me away from my man." She shrugged. "Though I will admit that I envy you just a bit for having someone like David."

At that point Chastity had come in through the back door. "I can definitely second that envy comment." She approached Sparrow. "During those rescue operations that we worked together I got to know him better and I could really go for him but he spent most of the time talking about you. Take my word for it sweetie, that boy is hopelessly hooked and just waiting for you to reel him in." She grinned. "I should get so lucky. Maybe someday I can find someone of my own like David."

"Did I just hear my name mentioned?" David inquired as he approached the doorway.

Sparrow looked back at David. "Sally was just saying how lucky she thought I was." She smiled and blushed as David put his arm around her. Then she added. "I guess I **am** pretty lucky that you found me."

David tightened his hold. "That's funny, I was thinking that I was the lucky one here." He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss then smiled at her. "No doubt about it. I am definitely the lucky one."

They were interrupted by the sound of the rest of the guests coming down the stairs and soon they were all seated at the table enjoying breakfast. During breakfast David and his family began discussing their plans to start back to New York that evening at sunset.

Sally remarked that she was thinking of heading back to New York around lunch time. "Katy, you could ride to New York with me." She suggested "That way you could fly back with your kids on the late flight this evening."

"I'm very anxious to see my kids again." Katy glanced over at Matt then responded. "I may just take you up on that offer to ride to New York with you."

~ o ~

After they had finished cleaning up from breakfast Sally approached Peter. "Peter, if you and your family don't mind, I would like to join you on the trip back to New York." She glanced over at David and Sparrow. "Besides, you and David could be more easily and comfortably concealed from outside observers in my camper." She shrugged. "There's plenty of room for everyone and that way you and your family could leave today right after lunch rather than waiting until after dark tonight."

Peter glanced at David then smiled at Sally. "That would be fine with us. It would get us back a half day earlier, and add a significant safety factor." He glanced at Cherry who smiled her understanding. "Also I must admit to a bit of curiosity about that camper of yours."

"Sounds like a plan." Matt commented.

Chastity jumped in. "Well in that case I'll head on in to the office." She addressed Matt. "You'll probably want to see them off so I guess I'll expect you at the office after lunch." With that, she headed out.

Once everyone was packed for the trip they gathered in the common room and talked a bit about the future. Then it was time for lunch. Immediately after lunch they piled into the four vehicles and set out for New York. Peter, Cherry, David, Sparrow and Katy ended up riding in Sally's camper. Phillip, Clarissa and Doctor Peterson drove the other three vans. They left right after one-thirty. Matt joined the caravan as far as the town where he dropped out and headed for his office.

~ o ~

The Camper turned out to be surprisingly spacious on the inside so there was plenty of room for everyone. David and Sparrow occupied a wide seat that could accommodate both of them. David's arm was draped across the back of the seat and lightly resting against her shoulders. Sparrow was enjoying being so close to him.

The conversations in the camper had turned to the subject of the leonine men's empathic ability and the bond. Sparrow was fascinated as she listened to Peter and Cherry talking about how the bond affected their marriage. She was most intrigued by their assertion that the bond made it impossible for them to lie to each other. Several times she found herself looking speculatively at David and wondered just what she would sense if she could feel his emotions when he looked at her, especially those time when her scars were not hidden. David had already insisted that he had formed a bond with her and, according to Peter and Cherry, over time she could expect it to become a two way bond.

Sparrow had a thought and asked Peter. Have you ever used the bond in any of your other stories?"

Peter replied. "No. I've had empathic characters before in some of my adolescent and young teen stories but this new one that I'm writing is the first time I've used the concept of the bond."

As the subject of conversation moved onto the new book Peter was working on, Sparrow found herself contemplating the current state of things between her and David. Then she found herself thinking about some of the other assumptions that had been expressed or hinted at. One of them was the assumption that now that they were 'bonded' marriage was inevitable. She glanced speculatively at David and he smiled back at her. She could just barely see the tips of his fangs peeking out. She remembered the first time she had really seen him. He could be really frightening looking under the right circumstances yet at other times he looked magnificently regal. As a boyfriend, she could see very little to complain about. Then she reminded herself that she really had nothing to compare him to. In fact in the painfully short time that she could remember, he was the only potential boyfriend she had any experience with. She really had nothing to compare this fledgling relationship to. She had noticed while at the brownstone that the other members of David's family seemed to have very good happy relationships. And she had to admit that becoming a part of the Chandler-Wells family was a very big plus.

David looked over at Sparrow. "You seem to be awfully deep in thought." He remarked quietly.

Sparrow glanced back and shrugged. "Just thinking about things." She responded evasively. David knew she was holding back and just nodded his understanding while giving her a bit of an extra squeeze. Then they both returned their attention to the current discussion.

They were talking about a few of the finer plot points in Peter's new book when the camper suddenly lurched to the left then continued to shimmy strongly, accompanied by a loud flapping noise. Everyone hung on as the van veered to the right and rapidly reduced speed. Soon they came to a stop beside the road.

Sally turned toward the back where her passengers were getting themselves organized and announced. "Well folks, it seems we had a blowout." She shrugged and addressed David and Peter. "Well it's broad daylight outside so I guess you big strong boys will just have to let us girls take care of this." She pointed to Cherry. "Cherry, the spare is under the floorboard next to the back door." She signaled Sparrow to follow as she opened her door. "Sparrow, I'm going to teach you how to change a flat tire."

Cherry retrieved the spare from the back of the camper and brought it around to the right front where Sally was removing the nuts from the tire while Sparrow was jacking up that corner of the van. It took Cherry and Sally together to pull the nearly shredded tire off but Sally was able to get the spare on by herself while Cherry took the damaged tire to the back. In less than ten minutes they had changed the tire and were pulling back out on the road. Once they were back on the road Peter commented that the girls were so handy that they would be worth hanging on to, which got several rude noises directed his way by those same girls. The resulting laughter lightened the left over tension that had lingered from the unexpected and scary blowout.

~ o ~

That evening just after dark, the four vehicle caravan arrived at the family brownstone. Elizabeth and Charles had been surprised to learn that they were driving home during the daylight and they were very surprised when the caravan that pulled up behind their home included a camper they had not seen before. They were even more surprised when two unknown women stepped out of the camper followed by Peter, Cherry, David and Sparrow.

They all entered the brownstone to enthusiastic welcomes and a good deal of curiosity about Sally and Katy. Sally and Katy were invited to stay the night but Sally said that she was anxious to get home to her husband and Katy wanted to get to her children. After Sally and Katy left, the family stayed up late into the night talking about everything that had happened over the last two weeks.

Elizabeth was commenting. "So I guess that means that the sheriff and his wife can be counted on as friends then."

Peter replied. "Yes, I think there is no doubt that they can be trusted with our secret. Once Matt learned about Clarissa and Phillip's connections he told us that we could count on his help if we ever needed it. He also said that if any of us have a reason to venture out his way, let him or Katy know and they will make sure we have a safe place to stay."

Charles replied. "It's always good to know that we have friends we can count on. What about the deputy's brother?"

David responded with a chuckle. "Chaz, uh Deputy Chastity, said that she would sit on him and make sure he knew how important it was that he not tell anyone about us."

Charles turned to Sparrow and smiled at her. "I wanted to tell you how glad we are to have you back and let you know that your room is still there for you. You are part of us now and this place is your home if you wish to live here with us. If you want a place of your own we know a lot of helpers that can help you find a decent place that you can afford as well as helping you find a good job now that you are up to it." He glanced over at David and chuckled. "I know that David would like it if you lived here where he can see you more often."

Cherry jumped in. "Peter and I would also love having you around." She broke into a wide grin. "And as added inducement I can offer you free taxi service."

Sparrow glanced around at all of these unique friends then looked at David as his hand stole into hers and blushed at the intensity of his gaze. David spoke up. "I really would like it if you stayed here because I have fallen for you and want to see a lot more of you."

Sparrow looked down embarrassed and held tightly to his hand then looked up at everyone. "It feels strangely wonderful to have a place to call home with so many people who care about me and want me around. I may not know about my past but I'm pretty sure that this is a novel situation for me." She looked directly at David. "And you know how I feel about you."

Cherry laughed. "Sparrow, honey, we all know how you feel about my son."

Sparrow blushed deeply, unable to think of any response.

Charles grinned as he glanced over at David then addressed Sparrow. "And we can also feel your desire to stay here."

It had been nearly a week since the big snow storm and Elizabeth was scanning through the latest reports when she came across a new report on her search for info on Sparrow's family. There was a Tony Farrow living in Bowling Green Kentucky and working at a furniture store. After collecting all the information she could find on him, Elizabeth concluded that this could be the brother that she had been looking for.

Elizabeth called Tony Farrow and, after identifying herself, told him that an unidentified woman that may have been Michelle Farrow was treated at one of the local hospitals over a month ago and she was trying to get more information. Tony admitted that Michelle was his little sister and verified most of the information that Elizabeth already had about what happened seven years ago. Then she got him talking about what had happened to him after he left home.

Tony had tried to stick it out in the hope that he could affect a reconciliation between his father and his little sister. Then the fire happened and a few days later the incident in the hospital occurred. His father's reactions had been the last straw and he was no longer able to stand living in the same house with that monster so he went to stay with a buddy from school. After Michelle disappeared from that foster home he had packed up and left town. He had spent over a year trying to track down his sister but, except for reports that she had worked a short time in a tattoo place in Memphis Tennessee, he had found no trace of her. Eventually he had given up and settled in Kentucky. He was now married and had a two month old daughter.

Elizabeth thanked him and told him that she was fairly certain that the woman at the hospital was Michelle and promised to let him know if she had any more information for him.

~ o ~

That evening when she got home, Elizabeth called for a family meeting after dinner. As they all sat around the dining room table Elizabeth began. "Sparrow, honey, I did some research and I have located your older brother. He really cared a lot about you and tried to find you after you disappeared. He knows that you are alive but not where you are or what has happened to you. If you want to get in touch with him I can give you his address and phone number." She paused a moment. "If you do decide to contact him, I would suggest you start by writing to him."

David jumped in. "Sparrow, whatever you decide, we're all here for you."

Sparrow glanced around the table then looked at Elizabeth. "I think I will have to think about this for a while."

Clarissa added her thoughts. "You take all the time you need. If you decide that you want to communicate with him but wish to avoid direct contact, you can exchange messages through me at the DA office."

"Thanks." Sparrow responded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Sparrow had spent a large part of the night thinking about what she wanted before she made her decision. She spent most of the morning composing a letter. She wrote that she had left her past behind. She explained that she was happy in her new life and didn't want to be reminded of her past. She said that she would like for him to write back to her and tell her how he was doing as long as he acceded to her wishes about not bringing up the past. She took the letter to Clarissa and asked her to send it to her brother through the DA office for her and to keep her location confidential for the time being.

Clarissa placed the letter in an official envelope from the DA office along with a set of standard instructions on how to communicate through her office with someone in witness protection and sent it off to her brother.

A week later a letter arrived at the DA office from Tony Farrow and Clarissa took it home to Sparrow that evening.

Sparrow looked down uncertainly at the envelope in her hand. "He's supposed to be my brother but I don't even know him." She looked up at David. "Will you read it for me, please?" She held the envelope out to him.

He took the envelope from her. "This could be very personal. Are you sure you want me to read it?" She nodded. He opened the envelope and quickly scanned it before he started to read. "Dear little sister, I know you said you go by the name Sparrow now but I still think of you as Michelle. I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that you are alive and well. I have really missed you . . . aahh . . ." David looked up at her. "You might want me to skip this next part. It is a reference to the past." She nodded. He nodded back and continued. "Aahh, lets see . . . I'm married now. Her name is Sandra and we have our second kid on the way. I hope you don't mind but if it's a girl we are planning to name her Michelle. I hope that someday soon you and my wife, Sandra, can meet each other." The rest of the letter was more about his wife and family.

After David finished Sparrow kissed him. "Thanks for doing this for me. I just didn't feel like facing that alone. Sometimes it feels so strange and frustrating having no memory of my past but I just don't want to remember all the bad things that happened to me."

David cocked his head. "Do you want to meet your brother?"

Sparrow shrugged, shaking her head. "I just don't know. Maybe eventually. Right now he is just a stranger to me."

Sparrow and her brother exchanged a few letters through Clarissa at the DA office. Try as she might she simply could not think of him as more than a friendly stranger. She sent a small gift and a card to him and his wife when little Michelle was born. Her brother sent her a picture of himself and his wife with their two children. Sparrow spent half the night staring at the picture trying to dredge up some memory or even a sense of recognition, but there simply was nothing there.

She finally put the picture over on her nightstand with a sigh of sad frustration mumbling to herself. "All I want is a family I can remember." When she said the word 'family', it had conjured up a picture of Peter and Cherry with all of their family and a warmly welcomed feeling of belonging rose up inside her. After a moment she realized that they had already told her in no uncertain terms that they considered her as part of the family and, to her surprise, she also realized that she had come to think of all of them as her family as well. The thought took her breath away as she felt the warm feeling of acceptance rise up and envelope her like a safe cocoon. She drifted off to sleep feeling safe and accepted.

By the beginning of summer, after running a few MRI and CAT scans on Sparrow, the doctors had determined that most of the memory loss was the result of minor brain damage which was apparently the result of two instances of blunt force trauma at nearly the same location on her head. Doctor Peterson told her that, with the exception of a few bits and pieces that might occasionally pop up under the right conditions, the memory loss was permanent. She had already resigned herself to it and took the news with very little reaction. That night the sense of loss hit her hard and David came in to comfort her.

The next day she sent a letter to her brother explaining her memory loss and the circumstances surrounding it along with the news that the doctors had concluded that the loss was permanent. She told her brother that she had been informed by Clarissa that the two of them had once been close and that was all she knew about it. She would like to maintain contact with him but that he should not expect anymore than friendship since she didn't really know him.

During the spring she got a job through one of the helpers working at a small bookstore in midtown Manhattan. The most fascinating part of her job was listening to the stories of the ghost that was supposed to haunt the place. She had never seen the ghost herself but she had heard plenty of stories about him. According to the owner, who had inherited the store from his grandfather, the ghost was an artist that had died homeless back in the late eighties.

About the same time that she started work, she also started studying in preparation to go for her GED. Two weeks later Elizabeth and Cherry invited her to go out with them on a girls' day out shopping trip. Late in the afternoon they ended up in a very nice furniture shop and Elizabeth pointed out a desk. "Now there's a nice looking style."

Sparrow set her gloved hand on the desk wistfully. "It's a beautiful desk." Her eyes wandered over the clean lines and the beautiful grain of the wood. Then her eyes widened a bit at the price tag.

Cherry commented casually while watching Sparrow's expression. "It's a perfect match to the furniture in your room."

Sparrow glanced up uncertainly at Cherry. "Um, yea I guess it does."

Elizabeth nodded once then turned to the man that had just walked up beside them. "Very good. We'll take it."

Sparrow's eyes got even wider as she stared at Elizabeth. "But . . . but . . ."

Elizabeth looked Sparrow straight in the eye as she rested her hand on Sparrow's shoulder. "You're family now and you need a desk of your own since you're planning to start school." She broke into a grin. "And you'll need a place to set the computer that we ordered for you this morning."

Sparrow was overwhelmed by their generosity but the thing that kept running through her mind making her feel warm all the way through was the three words '_You're family now_'.

_**Continued in Part 11**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	11. Changes

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 11: Changes**

**May 2060**

It had taken Sparrow a while to get accustom to the fact that all of her emotions were an open book to all of the leonine males in David's family, especially since so many of her emotions were tied up with David and her own self image. She had learned that even Cherry could sense her feelings when she touched her. Cherry was apparently the only female that had this ability and many believed it was the reason that David's empathic ability was so much stronger than the others. Although she sometimes got a bit embarrassed, she was no longer really bothered by it. She even occasionally joked with them about it.

It was late in the evening and Sparrow was on her computer working on her homework assignment. Three weeks ago she had gotten her GED and enrolled in an on-line college. She was deep in thought, trying to solve an algebra problem, when she felt a _soft_, _warm_, _loving_ feeling gently wash over her and became aware of someone behind her. She turned around to see David standing behind her and smiling. She paused, looking at the leonine apparition with his fiery mane, his eyes glowing reddish-gold with reflected light from her desk lamp, and his fangs barely peeking out. The sight that had terrified her the first time she saw it now lightened her mood and made her smile.

"You felt me, didn't you." David remarked, his head cocked just a bit to the side.

At first David's comment didn't register then Sparrow's eyes opened wide as she realized that she had indeed felt David's emotions and, in fact, she was still just barely feeling the _warm love_ that was coming from him. Feeling just a little bit dazed at the startling revelation, she nodded distractedly.

"It seems that you are beginning to tune in to the bond that we share." David remarked as he broke into a huge grin that left his fangs on full display. "Anyway back to why I came in here. It's well after dark and I just came in to ask you if you would like to take a break and go for a walk in the park with me."

Sparrow glanced at her homework a moment then at her darkened bedroom window and finally with a distracted shrug, saved her work and shut down her computer. "Yea, ah, a walk in the park sounds nice." She was still processing the idea that she was feeling David's emotions.

As they descended the stairs she continued to be acutely aware that she was still feeling the emotional _warmth_ from David. She also began to detect a hint of _humor_ from him as well. The emotions felt just like her own yet she could easily tell that they were not really hers. There seemed to be a kind of unique flavor to them that she associated with David.

David grabbed a dark cloak that was made of a very light, loose woven material, from the coat rack beside the fireplace and threw it on as they exited the brownstone. The moon was little more than a sliver and the only light in the park came from the street lights and the occasional lighted pathway. As they walked along Sparrow kept glancing at David in wonder as she continued to, just barely, feel his emotions. The most prevalent emotion was that wonderfully warm feeling of _love_ that seemed to increase in intensity each time he glanced at her.

"There's someone coming." David remarked as he took her hand and pulled her off the path they were on. Eight seconds later a young couple strolled past them. Sparrow noticed that the girl was quite pretty then she felt a flash of _erotic interest_ from the bond that went away before she had time to get jealous. She felt David's arm go around her shoulder and the feeling of _warm love_ washed over her stronger than she had yet felt. She looked over at him and could just make out his face within his hood as he stared back at her. The reflected gleam of his eyes seemed to bore through her.

"Any normal, or in my case leonine, male can't help but notice when a very sexy girl passes by. It's a natural reaction and it has no effect on my feelings for you . . . except possibly to remind me how lucky I am to have you by my side."

He tightened his hold on her and kissed her forehead then almost without thought their lips met in what quickly became a very passionate kiss. This time she not only felt the usual effect of his kiss rush through her, she also felt his emotional reaction to their kiss as well. To her surprise, he was just as strongly affected as she was which caused a giddy kind of joy to well up inside and mix with the other emotions swirling through her.

~ o ~

About an hour later they had returned to the brownstone and soon ended up on the second floor library sofa together. Sparrow found that kissing David while being able to feel his emotions was the most incredible thing she had ever experienced and she just couldn't get enough. They were brought back to earth by the, louder than normal, sound of someone coming up the stairs. Two seconds later Charles and Elizabeth paused at the second floor landing and grinned at the young couple as they tried, unsuccessfully, to not appear flustered by the interruption.

"Goodnight kids." Charles remarked with a nod and a knowing grin. Then they continued up the stars.

Sparrow turned bright red. "They knew."

David laughed. "Of course they knew. That's just the way it is in this family."

~ o ~

As Sparrow lay in her bed that night she kept going over in her mind the events of the last few hours. Over the recent months she had begun to really believe that David actually did love her just the way she was, but now she had the irrefutable proof of his own emotions. When that sexy girl had passed them in the park, David's love had not wavered. Even now she could still feel his _love_ enveloping her over the bond. She fell asleep to the unique glow of David's _love_ for her.

Over the summer Sparrow's sense of David's emotions through their bond steadily got stronger and it was quite a revelation for her. She couldn't help but be aware that David's feelings for her were just as intense as hers were for him. The romance between Sparrow and David as well as their bond developed pretty much along expected lines. Sparrow had become comfortable and happy living in the brownstone though having her bedroom adjacent to David's did often make it difficult to resist the temptation to let their relationship become too intense too fast.

The greatest revelation of the two way bond was Sparrow's discovery that the sight of her scars did not repulse David. The only emotions she had detected from him relating to her scars was an occasional mild _sympathy_ whenever she was feeling self-conscious about them.

The fiery nightmares, that used to plague her sleep nightly, had faded away until they had become very few and far between. She assumed that the fact that she could always feel David's loving presence in her mind probably had a lot to do with it. And David was always there to bring her out of it on the very rare occasion when that nightmare tried to return.

Over the summer David also taught Sparrow how to gain some control over the bond including suppressing her side of it and how to project emotions over the bond. She was fascinated at all the possibilities the bond had opened up before her.

~ o ~

That June Elizabeth announced her retirement from the position of New York District Attorney and, at her recommendation, Clarissa was appointed as the interim DA.

Around the middle of July Peter's new book came out. This book was written for the adolescent market and was an immediate hit. Peter had used the names of Katy's and Sally's children for major characters in the book and it was dedicated to Matt, Katy, Sally, Chastity and Sparrow for their kind help in its creation. The day the new book began rolling off the press, Peter grabbed four copies and autographed one each for Katy and Sally's four children. The four kids were thrilled to get their own copies of the new book from their favorite writer. They were doubly thrilled to find themselves as characters in the book.

By now Sally had become a close friend of the Chandler-Wells family and a helper to the tunnel community. Matt and Katy also kept in contact with Peter and David. Even Chastity wrote to them a few times.

It was late in August and David and Sparrow were up on the rooftop garden cuddled in each other's arms, watching the rise of the full moon. David looked speculatively over at Sparrow a moment as an idea began percolating through his mind. "Sparrow, you do still have any doses left in that whiffer of yours?"

She knew that there were three or four doses left. "Yes, I still have a few." She could feel the flow of David's emotions and was very curious what he was up to. As far as she knew, there was nothing of any consequence going on below.

He grinned almost mischievously at her. "There is supposed to be a very good concert playing in the Central Park Band Shell tomorrow evening. Would you like to go to that concert with me?"

Her expression shifted to one of surprise. "How are you planning to do that?"

His grin got wider his eyes sparkled with suppressed humor. "That is a surprise. Will you go with me?"

After a moment she smiled back and replied. "I would love to go to the concert with you." He had certainly peaked her curiosity.. "If for no other reason than to see how you are going to pull this off."

"Good, then it's all set." David smiled as he took both of her hands and kissed them.

The next Evening David reminded her to take a squirt of her medicine as he packed up a picnic basket for two. He led her down into the tunnels and, after a bit of a walk, they ended up in a small rectangular concrete chamber that looked like it had once been a storm drain but there were obvious signs that this place was occupied quite often. She glanced out of the opening that ran around the walls just below the ceiling and was amazed and amused to see they were next to the band shell.

They nestled into the blankets and pillows that covered the floor of the small chamber and were soon cuddled together and listening to the beautiful music that wafted down through the heavy grate above them. During the first half of the concert they shared the picnic dinner that David had prepared and during the second half which included some very romantic music they made-out. They quickly found themselves skirting dangerously close to the line they were both trying not to cross too soon and had to force themselves to slow down. She could tell by David's tumultuous emotions that he had wanted it as much as she had. "_Someday_." She thought sighing to herself. "_Someday_."

By the time they had returned to the brownstone she had used the last of her special medicine but it had definitely been well worth it. She was still moving through a dreamy daze as she climbed into her bed.

**November 2060**

By the time Election Day came around in November Clarissa was the obvious choice and was easily elected as the new District Attorney by a wide margin. One week after the election Clarissa arrived at work an hour late after stopping at the court to pick up some important documents. A man and a woman were apparently waiting near her office.

The man approached her as she walked up. "Clarissa Winston?"

"Yes." She shook his hand. "What may I do for you, Mister? . . ."

"Farrow, Tony Farrow." He replied. Clarissa's eyebrows shot up to her hairline at the mention of that name as he continued. "We're in town for a week and I was hoping that you could put me in contact with my sister." He paused considering what to say. "I know you've been handling our letters through your office." He paused, seeming to gather himself. "Please, she's my only sister and I just want to see her to reassure myself that she is alright."

Clarissa could see the sincerity in his eyes. "I have a few things that I must take care of this morning and I can't promise anything, but if you will come back after lunch, say around two or so, I may have something for you."

At lunch Clarissa ran over to the bookstore where Sparrow worked. She found Sparrow near the back putting some new books on the shelves. She almost missed her because she was wearing her blond wig for a change. "Sparrow, there you are."

"Clarissa." Sparrow smiled. "What brings you in here, today?"

"I had a surprise visitor in my office this morning." Clarissa reached out and touched Sparrow's arm. "Your brother and his wife were waiting there for me this morning. He really wants to see you. I think that he really cares about you and he needs to see you in person for the sake of his own peace of mind." She paused giving Sparrow's arm a reassuring squeeze. "Whatever you decide you want to do, I will help any way I can."

Sparrow thought for a long time before she finally answered. "If he really wants to see me that bad, I guess I should at least meet him." She paused looking down at the stack of books on the cart. "I, I just don't think I can do this alone." She took a deep sigh of a breath and looked back up at Clarissa. "I just wish David could be there with me."

After a moment's thought Clarissa responded. "We could have the meeting at your home after you get off work. That way David could be close by. I can be with you as well if you want me there."

"What about Peter and Charles?" Sparrow asked worriedly. "How will they feel about this?"

Clarissa smiled and gave her arm another gentle squeeze. "I'm sure the boys won't mind making themselves scarce for a little while. They've done it before when there were guests visiting that weren't in the know."

"I would feel better meeting them there if it will be OK." She responded. "It would be nice if you were there too."

"In that case I will call Elizabeth to make all the arrangements. I'll meet you there after work and I'll bring your brother and his wife with me."

Clarissa was waiting for Tony when he came back. "Mister Farrow I have talked to Sparrow, ah Michelle and made arrangements for her to meet you this evening. If you will meet me here after work at six, I will take you to her."

"Thank-you, I really do appreciate this." He shook her hand.

~ o ~

A few minutes before six Tony and his wife showed up at Clarissa's office. She made a quick call to make sure they were ready at the family brownstone then led them down to the street. There was a cab already there waiting for them.

As they piled into the taxi Clarissa spoke to the driver. "Take us to the brownstone Cherry."

The very pretty red headed driver responded. "Sure thing, Clarissa." She glanced at Tony. "Is this Sparrow's brother?"

"Yes he is." Clarissa replied.

She nodded and pulled out into the traffic. Tony was surprised that Clarissa and the taxi driver knew each other and that this taxi driver also knew about him. He glanced at his wife uncertainly wondering what was going on here. His wife took his hand as she also wondered what they were getting themselves into. Tony and his wife were even more surprised when, a short time later, they pulled up in front of an upscale brownstone across the street from Central Park. The final surprised was when it was the red headed driver that led them up the steps then casually walked right into the building.

Tony and his wife Sandra were both immediately impressed as they glanced around at the elegant interior of the place. Then they both became aware of the young woman that was standing and fidgeting in front of the elegant spiral staircase that dominated the far end of the room. As they approached the woman Tony noticed several things at once. She was dressed in clothes that covered her from the neck down; she was wearing gloves; her face was half obscured by the style of her long brown hair; and she reminded him a lot of his little sister before all of those terrible things had happened to her.

Tony cautiously approached the vaguely familiar woman, his mind churning with uncertainly. "Michelle? Is that really you?" He looked closely at the young woman trying to assure himself that this woman was indeed his long lost sister.

The woman quirked her mouth a bit then, with the barest shake of her head, responded. "I don't use that name anymore. That person is gone, forever. I go by Sparrow now." She glanced down a moment then she looked back at Tony. "But to answer your question, yes it's me . . . more or less."

Tony stepped forward intending to embrace her and she took a step back shaking her head and holding her hands out to stop him as a look of panic flashed across her face. "Please don't. I don't . . . I don't know you." She glanced over at Clarissa and Cherry then back at the confused and slightly hurt look on Tony's face. "Please understand. My memories of you are gone. You're a stranger to me . . . just some nice person that I've exchanged a few letters with."

They all stood there in uncomfortable silence for several seconds. Finally Tony cleared his throat; the look of hurt in his eyes deepened a bit as spoke. "Why did you see me then?"

Sparrow glanced over at Tony's wife who had taken Tony's hand and was looking at him in deep sympathy. Then Sparrow glanced down again and swallowed. Finally she looked back up at Tony. "Because you **do** remember **me** . . . or at least who I was." She glanced over at Clarissa. "I've been told by Clarissa that we were very close at one time so I wanted to set your mind at ease. I wanted you to know that I have begun a new life and that I'm doing OK."

After another moment of silence Tony's wife stepped forward holding out her hand. "Hi, my name is Sandra. It's nice to finally meet you, ah, Sparrow." Sparrow accepted Sandra's hand and acknowledged her offer of friendship with a nod.

Tony managed to regain his composure. "So, um, where do you live now?"

"I live here." Sparrow eagerly jumped at the safer ground. "Would you like to see my room?"

Sandra glanced at Tony, who looked around in surprise, then responded for him. "We would love to see your room."

Sparrow led them up to the second floor and down the hall toward her room. Tony was brooding as he tried to absorb the fact that his little sister didn't even know him. Sandra was mulling over the idea that her husband's terribly mistreated little sister was now living in such a nice upscale home. As they passed David's closed door Sparrow soaked up her sense of his close presence and his _love_, drawing strength from it. Tony and Sandra were both impressed with Sparrow's room. Tony's eyes were drawn to the two wig stands on the vanity; one sporting a blond wig, the other empty. It brought back painful memories of the sight of his badly burned little sister and his own feelings of guilt over what had happened. He still was haunted with the feeling that he should have known, should have stopped it somehow.

Sparrow let them glance around then remarked. "I just want you to understand that I'm happy now. I have a nice home, a family that cares about me, and a boyfriend that loves me." Almost the instant she said it she regretted mentioning David.

Tony noticed the look that flashed across her face. "You have a boyfriend?" The disturbing image of how she had looked the last time he saw her before she disappeared was seared into his memory. He admitted that she looked quite pretty with all her burn scars covered up but the concept of any man actually being physically attracted to her surprised him. He immediately wondered if the guy knew what was under that wig and gloves or if maybe she was being taken advantage of.

Sandra, who had no concept how badly scarred Sparrow really was, smiled and remarked innocently. "That's wonderful. Will we be able to meet him?"

Sparrow stammered nervously. "Well, ah, I, ah, I don't think that, ah, that may not be possible." Tony's suspicions jumped through the roof as he watched her glance around unable to look them in the eye. "He's . . . well he's just a bit different looking and well . . . He's a bit shy about showing himself to strangers . . . but he's really s . . ."

She was interrupted by the explosive outburst from Tony. "No! This is unacceptable. Just because you're scarred by that fire is no reason to throw your life away on the first freak that will have you. You deserve better than that. I won't stand for it." Tony's face had turned bright red as anger mixed with long buried pain and guilt rose up and suffused his expression.

"But you don't understand." Sparrow nearly wailed. "David isn't a fr . . ."

"I won't let it happen again." Tony interrupted again as he began pacing angrily. "I failed you when we were kids. I should have known what was going on with Uncle Barry and stopped it back then." Tony was now in a full self-loathing rant and failed to see the anguish on Sparrows face or the warning signals from his wife. "I should have stepped in and stopped him when Father threw you out. I should have been there to protect you and your baby! I blew it and you paid the price but I'm not going to stand aside and let your life get ruined again!"

_**Continued in Part 12**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	12. Healing

**Skin Deep**  
_By Thomas Mc_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Healing**

Tony was in full rant and oblivious of the pain it was causing his sister. All of his years worth of suppressed feelings of guilt and self-loathing over his ignorance and helplessness in the face what happened to her had come bubbling to the surface with a vengeance when he thought that she had attached herself to some freak because no one else would have her. Now he was going on about the sins of the past that she had not wanted to know about.

"Nooo!" Sparrow cried out as she covered her ears. "I don't want to hear!"

Sandra grabbed Tony's arms. "Tony! No!" She shook him trying to break through his pain. "Stop it."

Tony stared into Sandra's sympathetic eyes for several frozen seconds. Then they both glanced over toward Sparrow at the sound of a commandingly powerful and yet compassionate voice. "Sparrow I'm here, it's going to be OK. Your brother cares a lot for you. He just doesn't understand." They saw a tall powerful hooded figure that seemed to have come out of nowhere holding Tony's sobbing little sister. "He didn't mean any harm. In many ways his pain is almost as great as yours was." Sparrow's arms went around the huge figure as his comments were now aimed at Tony and Sandra. "She has no memory of how painful her past was. She has a new life now, free of all that baggage, and she would rather keep it that way." There was a pause as he leaned down apparently to bring his head in contact with hers. It was hard to tell what was happening with that hood obscuring their view. The deep hood turned very slightly in their direction but the face was still concealed by it. "Tony, you must let go of your guilt and sorrow over the past. You were not at fault. It's time for you to focus on the good life you have now and know that your sister is happy and loved."

As the world seemed to stand still, Tony stared at the figure holding his sister and taking in details. The stranger was huge, well over six foot, and he appeared to be very well built. He had on leather gloves and a floor length hooded cape that completely hid his features. Michelle was clinging to that very mysterious figure like her life depended on it.

There was something very masculine and commanding about the voice from the man holding her husband's sister and it sent erotic shivers through Sandra. She felt her arm going around her husband searching for an anchor to her conflicting emotions.

His suspicions still running high Tony barely noticed his wife's reactions and finally he spoke. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The mysterious figure responded. "My name is David. My room is next door." He gently caressed Sparrow's head with his gloved hand. "Sparrow and I have become . . . involved."

"What are you hiding?" Tony demanded aggressively. "Why can't I see what you look like? What have you done to my sister?"

Sparrow pulled back and retorted. "This is **my** life. You have no right to interfere." She started trying to push David toward her door. "Go, please. It's not safe to let others see you."

David resisted. "Sparrow, whether you remember him or not, he is still your brother and he has every reason to be suspicious of me. He could make things very difficult for us if he had a mind to. He has no way to know what we mean to each other or the reasons for all the secrecy. We need to set his suspicions to rest if we are to have a chance together."

"But the danger to you . . . to your whole family." Sparrow protested.

"Would be no greater than if we sent him away now without setting his suspicions to rest." David responded.

Sparrow looked intently into David's eyes. "I'm afraid. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't. Whatever happens, we'll find a way." He responded gently. "In the end, it's your welfare that he cares about. We just need to convince him that your happiness is my main concern as well." He shook his head. "We can't do that if I continue to hide myself from him." There was a low soft chuckle. "If two strangers like Matt and Katy can accept me . . . accept us, then I think there is a good chance that Tony will be able to accept me."

After a few moments Sparrow nodded her reluctant acceptance. David gave Sparrow a quick reassuring hug then released her, though Tony noticed that his sister held on to his arm as though determined to maintain contact.

David now addressed his comments toward Tony. "You must understand that the males of my family carry a unique genetic trait that results in our unusual appearance. That trait can only be inherited by my male descendants." After a moment he reached up and pushed back the hood.

Sandra gasped as her hand came up to her mouth, her eyes open wide in surprise and a hint of fear.

Tony's eyes also opened wide as he mumbled. "Oh my god." He shook his head. "What are you?"

David shrugged. "That is a question my family has been asking for decades. My aunt Patricia, who is an expert, claims that, despite our genetic anomaly as she calls it, we are still genetically human."

Sandra grabbed hold of her husband's arm as she continued to stare unbelievingly at the incredible creature that stood before her. At that moment Cherry appeared at the doorway. "David, what is going on? Is everything OK?"

David responded over his shoulder. "Everything's fine, Mother. We're just talking things over with Sparrow's brother."

Tony stared at Cherry in surprise, his mouth hanging open. With them standing next to each other, it was easy to see the kinship in the identical hair color as well as some familial hints in the creature's features. "You're his mother?"

Cherry nodded as Sparrow remarked. "David strongly favors his father."

"Michelle, this is . . ." Tony's brows furrowed as he stood there uncertain what to say.

"My name is Sparrow. Michelle disappeared along with my memory." Sparrow retorted.

Tony barely acknowledged her response as he continued to stare at David. "Is this really what you want?" He shook his head. "I only want what is best for you." As his emotions calmed down he became aware of how big and powerful David really was and began to feel a bit _nervous_ as he wondered what those heavy leather gloves he was wearing might be hiding.

"David **is** what is best for me." Sparrow replied, putting her arms around David with an almost possessive air. "If there is one thing that I have no doubts about, it's how David feels about me. As far as my feelings about David are concerned, he is everything I could ever want in a man . . . and more." She laid her head on David's chest. "If you really care about my happiness then you will accept David and you will accept our relationship."

Sparrow took a deep breath as David let her feel over the bond what he was sensing from her brother. She placed her hand on David's chest. "Why don't you go downstairs and let us talk this out."

David placed his hand over hers. "Are you sure you will be OK?" He could clearly feel her _uncertainty_.

Sparrow nodded, she knew he could feel her emotions. As David started to turn away she stopped him with a hand on his arm and when he turned back she stretched up and kissed him. "I love you. I'll be just fine." Then she let go of him.

David turned and placed his hand on Cherry's shoulder. "Come on Mother, I think Sparrow will be OK." Together they left the room.

For a couple of minutes after David and Cherry disappeared down the stairs, Sparrow, Tony and Sandra stood around silently regarding each other. None of them knew quite what to say. Sparrow sat down on the vanity chair and indicated for them to take the other two chairs in the room. Then there followed another minute of awkward silence.

With a determined sigh Sparrow finally spoke. "To begin with you seem to think that David is somehow taking advantage of me which is totally ridiculous."

She reached up and pulled off her wig. Sandra gasped in horror. She knew that Tony's sister had been badly burned but she could never have imagined how bad it had really been. She was suddenly finding it very difficult to look at Sparrow's damaged face. With a faint whimper and tears in her eyes, she finally had to look away. Tony also gasped. He did know how bad it had been but the change in her appearance was extremely shocking even knowing what to expect. He too had to look away after a couple of seconds.

Sparrow replaced the wig and adjusted it then continued speaking. "Look around you at this room." She indicated the room with a sweep of her hand. As they looked around at the elegantly furnished room they were currently in, she continued. "David's family is **very** wealthy." She paused. "You've seen how beautiful David's mother is and his father looks a lot like David. His grandfather also looks like him yet is also married to a beautiful woman. They refer to their own appearance as leonine, I've heard others that know them describe the males as lion-men." She paused a moment. "I have met several very pretty and sweet girls that know David and would jump at the chance to be with him. Sandra, you've heard his voice. Do you think he would have any trouble sweet talking anything he wanted from any girl?" Another pause. "The point I'm trying to make is, David has everything he could possibly want. Do you honestly think there is anything he could want from me that he couldn't get elsewhere . . . unless perhaps he really did love and want me personally?"

She paused again, not for an answer but to let what she had said sink in while she watched their expressions.

She continued. "Now consider everything I just told you and add in the fact that he found me when I had hit bottom. I had nothing, not even a past or a name and I was seriously contemplating suicide. He saved my life and his family took me in. He literally gave me a home and a family. He convinced me that I still had a lot to live for and then he gave me his unconditional love. He gave me everything . . . everything." She paused again looking down at her gloved hands then she looked back up at them. "As far as his appearance, I think that he looks fantastic." A slow smile spread across her face. "Sorta like a proud lion. And best of all, he's mine." There was a fire in her eyes as she expressed her claim on David.

Tony stared at his sister for several seconds. The damaged little girl he remembered would never have stood up for herself like this. This young woman despite everything was confident and happy. After a moment he responded. "I'm still not at all sure about this David creature but I can't deny what these people have done for you." He glanced over at his wife who smiled back at him. "For now I will hold my peace. I think I would like to get to know this David better."

Sparrow smiled and nodded. "How long are you going to be in town?"

Sandra replied. "We are going to be here for five days. This is supposed to be a vacation."

"Tomorrow is my day off." She told them. "Why don't I meet you tomorrow morning and I'll give you an insider's tour of New York. Maybe you can even meet some more members of my new adopted family."

Tony was a little taken aback by her term 'new adopted family' but he and Sandra both said that they would like that very much. After about another half-hour Tony and Sandra left the brownstone for their hotel.

The next morning Cherry took Sparrow over to the hotel where her brother was staying. Tony and Sandra spent the entire day exploring New York with Sparrow as their guide. She started with a visit to the book store where she worked. Then it was on to the more popular sites in the downtown area. They had lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant that was owned by a helper.

After lunch they met up with Clarissa and went up to the top executive floor of the Wells-Chandler Foundation. There Tony and Sandra met several of David's family and learned how the foundation was connected to the Chandler-Wells family. They were surprised to learn that Clarissa was actually a direct descendant member of the family. They also learned that David was there being trained for an executive position in the foundation. The more Tony learned the more respect he developed for the family. He also found his objections and uncertainties melting away.

After they left the foundation Sparrow showed them around Central Park including a stop at the Vincent and Catherine 'Forever' monument where she told them a little bit about the origin of the Chandler-Wells family. Dinner was at the Tavern on the Green in Central Park.

They ended up the evening seeing a currently popular Broadway play from the reserved box seats owned by the Chandler-Wells family. By the time Tony and Sandra returned to their hotel that evening Tony was convinced that his little sister had ended up in an unbelievably fortunate situation and he really had nothing to complain about. Sandra made a comment that he seemed more upbeat than usual. As he thought about this he became aware that he was actually feeling lighter, more carefree than he could ever remember being. It seemed as though a weight that he didn't even realize was there had been lifted from him. It was the weight of his guilt over what had happened to his sister all those years ago that was gone. He still had a few reservations about David but he couldn't deny that David had been very good for Michelle/Sparrow and he had given her back her self-worth as well as a real chance at a happy life.

**December 2060**

David was in an exceedingly good mood as he prepared for his big date with Sparrow. Winterfest was only a week away and today was the first anniversary of the day they met. They were planning to spend the evening at that secluded ledge overlooking the waterfall lake. The bond between them was humming with the intensity of both of their emotions. They were both looking forward to this outing with a great deal of _anticipation_.

The last time Sparrow had gone down into David's world was last summer when he had taken her to that concert in the park. This would be her first time to see the waterfall lake that she had heard so much about. She grinned at her reflected image in the mirror. She still saw the scars but they no longer held her emotions prisoner. She had high hopes that this date would be something very special. She suspected that it could be an important turning point in their relationship and her mind swirled with the possibilities then she blushed down to her toes as she contemplated the type of turning point she was hoping it might be. A split second later she felt David's reaction to her emotions, he had a pretty good idea of the type of thoughts that had just been going through her head, and her blush deepened.

After getting her emotions back under control, her mind drifted to last week when Doctor Harold Peterson had performed her first complete annual checkup. Harold had been very pleased at how much improvement there had been in the condition of her lungs. He had told her that she should be able to handle both today's planned visit below and Winterfest next week without difficulty. He even predicted that within a couple of more years her lungs would be healed enough that she would be able to discontinue the monthly medical treatments and dispense with the whiffer on the occasions that she went below except possibly in a rare emergency when she was below for too long. He had hastened to add that even after that point it would still take a few more years before her lungs were strong enough to take constant daily exposure to the tunnel air without any medical help but, if she was patient, it would happen.

Her excitement grew as she felt David approaching her door. Sparrow took a whiff from the new container Doctor Peterson had given her of the special medicine then opened her door and joined David.

~ o ~

They stopped off at an apartment like chamber that David identified as being the one that Vincent had originally grown up in. Then they went to the library chamber where he grabbed a fairly standard looking lantern. Their next stop was the tunnel dining room where Lakeysha, the newest community chef, had a packed picnic basket waiting for them. David thanked her and waved to old Oscar who was setting up the back buffet for tonight's dinner. Then they were on their way again.

David led her far deeper than she had ever thought that the tunnels extended. Eventually they came to a barely noticeable crack in the side of the natural tunnel they were passing through. David set the lantern down in the middle of the opening about three feet into the hidden side tunnel then he led her into the hidden tunnel. He explained with a grin. "That lantern alerts anyone that comes this way that the place is occupied."

She raised her eyebrows at this hint that he was expecting privacy where they were going. The narrow tunnel wound for about two hundred yards and, as they made their way through it, she soon became aware of a faint rushing sound that increased in volume as they continued until it reached the level of a medium roar. Finally the tunnel opened out into a huge chamber. She found herself standing on a secluded ledge that looked out over a great underground lake. Over to the right about a few hundred feet away was a triple waterfall that was the source of the roaring sound as it fell into a large lake forty feet below them. The roof of the huge chamber was glowing with every color of the rainbow. The view was spectacular.

After giving Sparrow several minutes to take in the view, David unrolled a thick comforter and began setting up their picnic lunch. Sparrow finally dragged her eyes away from the view and sat down on the comforter beside David. They dug into the delicious lunch that had been prepared for them as David told her about how the Waterfall Lake had been discovered by Vincent and someone called Mouse and had since become a popular getaway for the tunnel community. He also told her about the discovery of the secret of the ledge they were on many years later.

After they had finished their lunch, they sat there on the comforter for a while and just talked. Then the talk turned to kissing and touching. Soon they were making-out which became increasingly more passionate. Their bond deepened as their actions became more intimate. One by one their clothes began to come off as their emotions began to quickly spiral out of control.

~ o ~

David and Sparrow were stretched out on the thick comforter, their clothes scattered around them. Even her Wig had ended up discarded with their clothes. David ran his hand gently along her scarred left arm. As was common with burn victims, the scarred skin was more sensitive than the undamaged skin. "Sparrow I want to tell you how much I love you but I can't seem to find words that are adequate to the task. None of the words of love that I know of can truly convey the depth of my feelings."

She shivered at his touch. "You don't need words David. Our bond tells me everything I need to know."

He responded. "Then let my emotions tell you of the strength of my love as I ask you . . . Sparrow my love, will you marry me?"

She was stunned. In all of her fantasies and dreams this was the one thing that she had never dared wish for, yet here he was gazing at her in all her scarred glory and offering her everything her heart desired. More importantly, she could feel over that incredible magical bond that this is what he really wanted with all his heart. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she blinked back the tears. She could see that he already felt her answer before she spoke it with a soft sigh. "Yes . . . Yes!"

A strong sense of purpose swept over David and he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He needed to act here and now while the time and mood were right. David stood up and taking her hand urged her to stand up beside him and they both looked out over the gorgeous Waterfall Lake chamber. After a few quiet seconds, he turned and they stood face to face, naked, on the ledge beside the triple waterfall bathed in the soft multicolored light from the glowing moss. She could feel his _love_ over the bond swelling, building as he gazed into her face.

He took both her hands in his. "Sparrow, my love . . . I have never encountered a soul as beautiful as you and I am forever thankful to whatever power guided me to you that day I found you. . . I declare to you before God and Nature that whatever the future holds for us, I pledge that my life, my heart, my love and my soul are forever bound to you, my best friend, my lover, my wife."

She was momentarily stunned by what he was doing then she started speaking, not quite sure what she was going to say. "You found me and guided me out of my darkness. You gave me the light. You turned the fire that burns into the fire that warms." She paused a moment trying to force her spinning mind to remember the exact words that he had just spoken. "David, my beloved . . . I declare to you before God and Nature . . . that whatever the future holds for us, I pledge that my life . . . my heart, my love and my soul are forever bound to you, my best friend, my lover, my husband."

They embraced and kissed to the cheering roar of the great triple waterfall. When they broke from that kiss David leaned back his head and cut loose with a roar that very nearly drowned out the sound of that waterfall. Then they were again kissing as they slowly dropped to their knees. Very soon the bond opened up wide and their hearts beat in unison as Sparrow, for the second time, experienced the true power of all consuming love then all coherent thought fled before a tidal wave of ecstasy.

An incredibly short eternity later the young couple lay in happy exhaustion side by side as they stared out across the roaring waterfalls and into the future of renewed hope.

_**The End  
**_

* * *

'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


End file.
